Not a Top 5 Team - So What Are We?

[Tenspro2002]

Heading into last week there was a hope and expectation that this truly was a special team, a Dream Season-like renaissance under Hurley that would catapult us back to permanent national relevance.

After Xavier I posed the question of whether this was:
A) a blip, we'd snap back to dominance and stay top 5 and #1-seed worthy wire to wire
B) a concerning trend (including mediocre performances in wins over Georgetown and Nova), but one we should recover from to still be top 10-ish and #2/3 seed
C) a reality check, that we played over our heads, caught teams off-guard, and peaked super early against some potentially overrated opponents (and looked better than we were by pushing leads from 10 to 20 in garbage time), but now we've been figured out and we're really the #15-25 type team people thought preseason

After last night, we can kiss A goodbye.

The good news is, by frontloading our dominant stretch, we're going to stay in the national conversation for at least a little while longer and maintain some buzz around the program. But that will wear off if we're looking like a clear #3 or worse in our own conference (sick to my stomach but feeling like a genius for putting a few bucks on Providence at 30:1 to win the BE and more on Xavier at 3.5:1).

So are we going to be B (a conference title and Final Four contender) or C (ranked but not really a threat in big games) ?

 

[Chin Diesel]

Well, the talent is there to be a top 5 team. Us fans tend to look at our team more critically and gloss over shortcomings on other top teams.

But, it's clear coaching staffs have this team's early season tape and have made adjustments. Now, UConn's coaches have to figure out the counter to the counter.

 

[ColchVEGAS]

The talent is there to be a top 5 team, the coaching staff just needs to make the proper adjustments. Sanogo is still not recognizing doubles, or is too stubborn to kick it out. Our guards are not getting in to the paint to draw fouls, except Diarra but he cannot hit free throws and due to his shooting woes teams will be backing off him like they do Jackson to prevent the penetration.

The offense in general has looked disorganized in conference play and the beautiful ball movement we saw earlier this year has disappeared.

It is really tough to win games when you are giving the opponent 20+ points at the free throw line. Not to mention it seems our entire team is slumping at the same time.

 

[navery12]

I'm not sure there's really enough of a difference between B and C for me to pick between the 2. Whichever group we fall in I think the expectation is still to make the Sweet 16 and anything less would be underachieving

 

[REB1094]

Maybe we’re a 5-10, 10-15, 15-20 etc team that just got hot early. Who knows? If so, I’m not too upset about it. We got quality wins, national attention in November, and a great buffer to lose some conference games and still get a good seed

In game adjustments need to be better, and we need to force opponents to play our game instead of trying to beat them at theirs. Do those two things + make a few more of our wide open threes and we’ll still win a lot more games than we lose. That’s what we did in Oregon and we blew out every single team we played. That can translate to solid wins against the BE giants

 

[auror]

The dream season we lost three road games in Big East play (and one at home even). 12-4 record. It's absolutely still in play.

 

[tykurez]

Until proven otherwise we’re decidedly (C) - it’s not just the two losses but the overall trend since Butler. I think there’s something to the fact that we exceeded expectations against inferior opponents or P5 teams that aren’t quite top-tier and had no good scouting data.

The Big East is full of really good coaches who will know how to give UConn fits now and it’s going to be on our coaching staff to start making adjustments quickly.

 

[uconngb]

Until proven otherwise we’re decidedly (C) - it’s not just the two losses but the overall trend since Butler. I think there’s something to the fact that we exceeded expectations against inferior opponents or P5 teams that aren’t quite top-tier and had no good scouting data.

The Big East is full of really good coaches who will know how to give UConn fits now and it’s going to be on our coaching staff to start making adjustments quickly.

Spot on

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

We hit shots in the beginning. Joey C was shooting like 50% from the 3 point line. The last 2 games, the shooting has fallen off a cliff. It's not because we are being better defended, handful of those 3 point shots were wide open. We just aren't making them.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Until proven otherwise we’re decidedly (C) - it’s not just the two losses but the overall trend since Butler. I think there’s something to the fact that we exceeded expectations against inferior opponents or P5 teams that aren’t quite top-tier and had no good scouting data.

The Big East is full of really good coaches who will know how to give UConn fits now and it’s going to be on our coaching staff to start making adjustments quickly.

I agree, and I think it's less that the OOC teams were overrated (though, of those, only Bama and ISU are looking like true "quality wins") and more that they didn't know what to expect from a team that had a ton of roster turnover. Frankly, we as fans didn't either.

The coaching staff deserves a lot of credit for bringing in guys who were maybe better than advertised, getting them to gel quickly, and formulating an attack that caught teams by surprise.

Now they have to show they can counter, because -- whether due to more tape existing or BE coaches having a better feel for us than OOC foes -- we have been figured out for 4 games now.

 

[Madmannsucks]

We overreacted when the team was 14 and 0 and are doing the same thing now. The team is good and has so many pieces. Titles are not won and lost by January 5th. I would like to give the coach a chance to work this out. Conference play is different as we all tend to forget. They now have film to identify areas that need work. it's hard to find that when you are winning every game by double digits.

 

[JohnFSilver]

Heading into last week there was a hope and expectation that this truly was a special team, a Dream Season-like renaissance under Hurley that would catapult us back to permanent national relevance.

After Xavier I posed the question of whether this was:
A) a blip, we'd snap back to dominance and stay top 5 and #1-seed worthy wire to wire
B) a concerning trend (including mediocre performances in wins over Georgetown and Nova), but one we should recover from to still be top 10-ish and #2/3 seed
C) a reality check, that we played over our heads, caught teams off-guard, and peaked super early against some potentially overrated opponents (and looked better than we were by pushing leads from 10 to 20 in garbage time), but now we've been figured out and we're really the #15-25 type team people thought preseason

After last night, we can kiss A goodbye.

The good news is, by frontloading our dominant stretch, we're going to stay in the national conversation for at least a little while longer and maintain some buzz around the program. But that will wear off if we're looking like a clear #3 or worse in our own conference (sick to my stomach but feeling like a genius for putting a few bucks on Providence at 30:1 to win the BE and more on Xavier at 3.5:1).

So are we going to be B (a conference title and Final Four contender) or C (ranked but not really a threat in big games) ?

A — Top 5 team.

Look inside the numbers.

They lost games, yes, but the biggest issue is the team is getting too many fouls called agaisnt them. Stop fouling.

64 free throws in 2 games? Come on. That can’t be sustained by opponents.

They have also cratered from 3, even with wide open shots and are not being mentally tough enough about the officials perhaps giving Hurley the business.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

This thread identifies the team's next set of hurdles.

There is always one team that closes its season by winning 6 consecutive games against opponents who are faced with the same challenge.

Somebody does it.

I'm rattled but still feel like I can say, "Why not us?"

So much for the troll who made the call that it would be an undefeated season. May others lose interest, and may we who care hang tough and pull the sled together.

 

[UCLJ0211]

Don’t forget we won one of our titles after going 9-9 in conference play. Then we won 11 in a row. Point being- It’s not how you start, but how you finish. A lot of season is left and these losses will ultimately help make the team better for a deep run in March.

 

[housekeys]

It would be cool (sic) to see what Ed Cooley thinks of UConn after the game last night? He said we were "the best team in the country", before the game. He wouldn't be lying? One of the friars might excommunicate him or something.

 

[Tyler2Rings]

They have also cratered from 3

Interesting idea

Hurley/ref/tech drama --> Team gets tight --> Miss open 3s --> Defenses can focus on 1 or 2 guys --> Offense gets harder

I tend to agree that if we can clean up one or two things we can turn it around quickly. At the end of the year we'll be closer to the team who played Bama than the team who played last night

 

[tcf15]

I'd say we're still a legit top 10 team. I think road games against ranked (Xavier) and soon-to-be-ranked (Providence) conference opponents are really tough. Those two games shouldn't erase what UConn did in the first 14. I also think Saturday's game against Creighton will be a better barometer for where this team is/may be headed.

 

[bendm]

ask again after the creighton and marquette games

 

[AntG168]

I don’t understand why A is no longer an option. Seems like an overreaction

 

[Ctedgeman]

It's a little too early to tell I suppose, but it appears to me that we are a live or die by the 3 type of team right now. If we are making outside shots we'll beat pretty much anybody by double digits since our defense is generally very good and takes care of the rest. When the jumpers are not falling, we struggle against any real competition. We don't have an alpha PG. Sanogo dominates lesser matchups, but struggles a bit against competent defenders and tends to force things too much. Unfortunately for us, these issues have been happening simultaneously in the last few games. Georgetown is luckily terrible enough that we still pulled that one out, but that won't work against the top half of the BE.

But as someone pointed out above, we've gone .500 in conference before and still won the whole damn thing and what we do know by what we've seen so far is that this team can go on a hot streak at any moment.

 

[SwingDog]

Well, the talent is there to be a top 5 team. Us fans tend to look at our team more critically and gloss over shortcomings on other top teams.

But, it's clear coaching staffs have this team's early season tape and have made adjustments. Now, UConn's coaches have to figure out the counter to the counter.

Bingo.

 

[jake14mw]

Still a top 5 team.

 

[Huskyforlife]

I don’t see why we can’t correct some issues (Fouling, Clingan minutes, shooting mean reversion), and get back to the top 5. We have fixable issues.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I don’t understand why A is no longer an option. Seems like an overreaction

It's not just an option it should be what happens.

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

This team absolutely has the players to be the best team in the country. It's all about execution.