Not Fouling at the End of Temple

[huskiesnyc]

Let's assume KO made an honest mistake (which is still inexcusable) and he didn't know we had fouls to give at the end. Wouldn't you think one of the assistants would tell him? They are after all making like 200k +. Maybe I'm missing something, any reason for not fouling? It clearly didn't turn out so well.. Count me in the group that would like our next assistant coach to be from outside the UConn family with the best qualifications.

 

[Ts5034]

Fair point as far as the assistants go. IIRC, the reason this all started with all of the asst coaches being from the UConn family was after the Nate Miles violations. I just got the feeling that from that point forward, JC wanted all of his own guys that he can trust as assistant coaches. But, as far as Ollie goes, I would love to see him bring Howie back on board in a George Blaney type role after he hangs it up at CCSU. Yes, Howie is a UConn guy, but I think he knows a lot about the game and I really believe he would be an asset to the team and staff when it comes to in game situations.

 

[nomar]

When are we going to receive an explanation for what happened (didn't happen) on that last play?

 

[uchusky32]

When are we going to receive an explanation for what happened (didn't happen) on that last play?

Nomar, my man. You know the rules around here! Never, I mean never! Ask when or how long because the answer remains the same. . . 20 minutes.

32

 

[dtrumpet]

from Dom Amore's column this morning:
"The Huskies had a foul to give and didn't use it, probably because Ollie trusted the defense after two shot-clock violations and didn't want to risk a foul in the act of shooting."

Probably, which means no one bothered to ask. Shameful

 

[mauconnfan]

Have to say the assumption is 99% correct. You know someone on the bench is in charge go the fouls, one of the assistants for sure. They knew the deal, they elected not to. But as nomar said, I would love to hear the explanation.

 

[king conn]

The question has to be asked to be answered. The hoard? One of them was probably filling out his baseball hall of fame ballot during the game. One was probably watching his beloved PC Friars having their season of the century on his phone. And the other one was just bemoaning what the loss was doing to the fruits rpi.

 

[Marat]

It was a coaching/staff mistake and we will never hear an explanation on it. And like dtrumpet said its too bad the media didn't ask either.

 

[huskiesnyc]

We also were in the bonus for once with 7:30 left in the game and didn't drive to get to the FT line. That makes it even more troubling to me that Adams wasn't in at the end because he's only player on the team that can drive the lane. Really off night for KO and staff.

 

[upstater]

Let's assume KO made an honest mistake (which is still inexcusable) and he didn't know we had fouls to give at the end. Wouldn't you think one of the assistants would tell him? They are after all making like 200k +. Maybe I'm missing something, any reason for not fouling? It clearly didn't turn out so well.. Count me in the group that would like our next assistant coach to be from outside the UConn family with the best qualifications.

Uh, two of our assistants were former head coaches. I mean, Hobbs once had a team finish top 5 at the end of the season's AP Poll. It is staggering to believe that former head coaches had no idea. I could believe the young guys maybe like Moore or Freeman, but not Miller or Hobbs. I'm a lot more ready to believe that maybe Gibbs didn't get have confidence in the instructions, something like, foul him under 10 seconds, but make absolutely sure he is not anywhere close to going up for a shot. When the guy turned his back to the basket, that was the time to foul. Also a perfect time to strafe his arm and go for a steal.

 

[upstater]

Fair point as far as the assistants go. IIRC, the reason this all started with all of the asst coaches being from the UConn family was after the Nate Miles violations. I just got the feeling that from that point forward, JC wanted all of his own guys that he can trust as assistant coaches. But, as far as Ollie goes, I would love to see him bring Howie back on board in a George Blaney type role after he hangs it up at CCSU. Yes, Howie is a UConn guy, but I think he knows a lot about the game and I really believe he would be an asset to the team and staff when it comes to in game situations.

But Calhoun had a mix of non-UConn guys as assistants. In fact, none were UConn. Not Tom Moore, not George Blaney, not Andre LaFleur, not Dave Leitao, not Clyde Vaughn, not Patrick Sellers--tho Sellers obviously had a UConn connection.

 

[Waquoit]

The poster was talking post-Miles.

 

[UChusky916]

If Amore's explanation truly was KO's thought process, that's RIDICULOUS. The potential reward of a turnover/steal by playing some pressure defense, going for the steal, using the foul to give, and forcing them to inbound the ball again HIGHLY outweighs the potential risk of us fouling Temple in the act of shooting.

Sad that we'll never know because no one had the balls to ask him.

And while we're talking about the foul to give, why doesn't someone also ask KO why we didn't try to go for 2 possessions when we had the ball after a time out with 50 seconds left, down 2. If we ran a play out of the inbounds to get up a quick shot within 10 seconds, we would have got the ball back again after Temple's possession, barring a Temple offensive rebound. I would have thought that with KO's NBA background that this would be a given. Was shocked when it did not happen.

Still absolutely astounded at KO's poor coaching the other night.

 

[Vancat]

I think I heard WTIC has a coach's show tonight?

 

[gampelcrazies]

I think I heard WTIC has a coach's show tonight?

Yes I believe it is on at 6:00

 

[upstater]

The poster was talking post-Miles.

Tom Moore and George Blaney were still here. Who did JC bring on? Karl Hobbs? Hobbs is a former D1 coach.

 

[uchusky32]

Gibbs is not a great or good on ball defender. No Brimah protecting the rim. Hey he knows more than me but stats be damned on this one, teams are getting into the lane on us at will and we all new when that shot went up game was over.

 

[uconngb]

If Amore's explanation truly was KO's thought process, that's RIDICULOUS. The potential reward of a turnover/steal by playing some pressure defense, going for the steal, using the foul to give, and forcing them to inbound the ball again HIGHLY outweighs the potential risk of us fouling Temple in the act of shooting.

Sad that we'll never know because no one had the balls to ask him.

And while we're talking about the foul to give, why doesn't someone also ask KO why we didn't try to go for 2 possessions when we had the ball after a time out with 50 seconds left, down 2. If we ran a play out of the inbounds to get up a quick shot within 10 seconds, we would have got the ball back again after Temple's possession, barring a Temple offensive rebound. I would have thought that with KO's NBA background that this would be a given. Was shocked when it did not happen.

Still absolutely astounded at KO's poor coaching the other night.

Well stated.....the two examples you gave are VERY basic basketball tenets....no way KO should get a free pass for either of those dumb mistakes

 

[Vancat]

Expect him to be asked the Q at 6 tonight. I doubt he'd throw anyone under the bus, though.

 

[Hugo]

Another scenario is that one of the assistants notified KO that we had a foul to give and he ignored the input. Or somehow during the timeout the comment was made, but never understood or heard. Either way I hope somebody brings this up tonight.

 

[Gurleyman]

We lost twice on inbounds plays last year in the last three seconds. It's possible they just trusted their live ball defense more than letting Temple run an organized out of bounds play where we get caught on a screen again. That may not be a satisfactory explantation, but I can at least understand the thought process.

 

[huskiesnyc]

We are 1 and 8 dating back to last year in games decided by 3 or less points, with our only win coming off Boats 3 in the AAC tournament. That's how you miss the NCAA's in back to back years. I really hope we start to spend a lot of practice time working on end of game scenarios, because I guarantee we will be in a tied game on the road against one of these crap teams like Houston or ECU. Just can't afford to lose to those bums EVER. Need to start playing more clutch and obviously better coaching and game management would be a start.

 

[Waquoit]

Tom Moore and George Blaney were still here. Who did JC bring on? Karl Hobbs? Hobbs is a former D1 coach.

A UConn guy.

 

[Inyatkin]

We are 1 and 8 dating back to last year in games decided by 3 or less points, with our only win coming off Boats 3 in the AAC tournament. That's how you miss the NCAA's in back to back years. I really hope we start to spend a lot of practice time working on end of game scenarios, because I guarantee we will be in a tied game on the road against one of these crap teams like Houston or ECU. Just can't afford to lose to those bums EVER. Need to start playing more clutch and obviously better coaching and game management would be a start.

No one wants to hear it, but games decided by three points or less are about luck as much as anything. The difference between a team with a 1-8 record in those games and an 8-1 record is not all that substantial.
The good teams blow people out, obviously, so don't find themselves in those situations too often. But the inability to win close games doesn't mean nearly as much as most commentators would tell you.

 

[HooperScooper]

from Dom Amore's column this morning:
"The Huskies had a foul to give and didn't use it, probably because Ollie trusted the defense after two shot-clock violations and didn't want to risk a foul in the act of shooting."

Probably, which means no one bothered to ask. Shameful

Here is what I was told. Ollie took 40 minutes in the locker room before finally coming out to address the media in a very short 3 minute post game press conference. By that time all the print media were gone because they had to write their stories and submit them by deadline (the game started at 8:00, which is later than a normal 7:00 or 7:30 game). So I'm not sure what media were left for the post game press conference but there were 2 questions asked from different media people. So it is inexcusable they didn't ask that question.

Here is the post game press conference:


Not sure I understand his answer about not calling the timeout after Temple's last made basket. Wouldn't you instruct your players in the timeout before Temple's last possession to call it if Temple made a basket? Or at least tell them they had a timeout to use? Not sure it would have made any difference but I think there's a greater probability to score out of an out of bounds set play than a frantic take the ball out of bounds and throw up a 50 foot heave.

In the end they didn't lose this game because of those coaching errors. Certainly didn't help, but not looking like they were ready to play was more to blame. The head coach has to bear the responsibility for that also.