Not Fouling at the End of Temple

[Waquoit]

That Hobbs/Thompson team would win the ACC this year--but not the B12.

No they wouldn't. Perno would still be coaching.

 

[intlzncster]

Mostly right, but I think Hobbs was much earlier. Hobbs was on Corny Thompson's team, well before the Calhoun era. Back when the BE was stacked. That Hobbs/Thompson team would win the ACC this year--but not the B12.

Thanks for the correction. Did that off the top of my head.

 

[intlzncster]

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.

I think you are on to something here. No way Howie lets that happen at game end. Maybe he's had enough at Central and let's face it, he and KO are bromantics.

Pass on Howie. I think he's done at this point; seems like he's been coasting the last few years. Would love to see them go get one of those crack recruiting closers. Doesn't mean those guys can't coach either.

 

[upstater]

No they wouldn't. Perno would still be coaching.

Well, yeah, but they held their own and beat teams that would annihilate the ACC, Georgetown with Ewing, St. John's with Mullin, Seton Hall with Callandrilo, Pinone and Nova, the Rautins Syracuse team (don't think Pearl Washington was there yet).

 

[nomar]

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.

Except hadn't Dunphy called a timeout to set up the very play that beat us?

I can't understand the thought process, sorry. No way, no how. This isn't 20/20 hindsight. This is everyone in the world screaming at Gibbs to foul, except for the people being paid to tell him that. Really inexcusable.

 

[GemParty]

Was KO asked about it on the WTIC Coaches show tonight? I missed it.

 

[Gurleyman]

Except hadn't Dunphy called a timeout to set up the very play that beat us? I can't understand the thought process, sorry. No way, no how. This isn't 20/20 hindsight. This is everyone in the world screaming at Gibbs to foul, except for the people being paid to tell him that. Really inexcusable.

I think it's the better move to foul but when you have shown a definite problem with guarding out of bounds plays and you've played good D down the stretch, I think there's an argument to be had to trust your live ball D and not choose to defend the type of catch and shoot inbounds play that has burned us. We're Brimahless too - making us more vulnerable to some sort of backdoor lob from out of bounds that every team has up their sleeve. I don't think it's unreasonable, if maybe misguided, to decide not foul to avoid putting yourself in that position again.

It also wasn't the designed play that beat us - they tried to run something for DeCosey and ended up just going one on one.

Not fouling against Syracuse bugged me as a strategic miscalculation. This one I don't necessarily agree with, but I can live with it based on what's happened to us in the past. Of course, now that we've lost this way too, there's less reason to go against the book next time.

 

[gtcam]

Pass on Howie. I think he's done at this point; seems like he's been coasting the last few years. Would love to see them go get one of those crack recruiting closers. Doesn't mean those guys can't coach either.

What difference does coaching make? Has it looked like Hobbsy, RM or Kelis Fisher are doing any coaching? - I didn't bring up Miller because I would miss his socks.

 

[Waquoit]

Well, yeah, but they held their own and beat teams that would the ACC, Georgetown with Ewing, St. John's with Mullin, Seton Hall with Callandrilo, Pinone and Nova, the Rautins Syracuse team (don't think Pearl Washington was there yet).

That team lost 7 out of their last 8 games. With Dom at the helm, they aren't annihilating anyone.

 

[upstater]

That team lost 7 out of their last 8 games. With Dom at the helm, they aren't annihilating anyone.

Well, that was the 82 team. The 81 team went 20-9, they played Ewing during his freshman year in 1981.

The last 8 games of the regular season went like this:

19 Wed, Feb 4, 1981 REG @ Providence Big East W 79 70 16 3 W 2 Dunkin' Donuts Center
20 Sat, Feb 7, 1981 REG Boston College Big East L 71 76 16 4 L 1 XL Center
21 Wed, Feb 11, 1981 REG @ St. John's (NY) Big East L 65 72 16 5 L 2 Madison Square Garden (IV)
22 Sat, Feb 14, 1981 REG @ Syracuse Big East W 65 63 17 5 W 1 Carrier Dome
23 Tue, Feb 17, 1981 REG @ Seton Hall Big East W 77 70 18 5 W 2 Walsh Gymnasium
24 Sat, Feb 21, 1981 REG Providence Big East W 71 57 19 5 W 3 XL Center
25 Mon, Feb 23, 1981 REG Villanova Big East L 73 74 19 6 L 1 XL Center
26 Sat, Feb 28, 1981 REG @ Georgetown Big East L 58 60 19 7 L 2 McDonough Gymnasium

4-4 record.

They beat Syracuse, Georgetown and St. John's earlier in the season.

 

[Waquoit]

Was KO asked about it on the WTIC Coaches show tonight? I missed it.

He said they talked about fouling in the huddle. He said he felt his instructions were too open to interpretation. He wanted them to let the dribbler put in on the floor, then foul. Next time he'll have them foul as soon as it's inbounded. They talked about being guarding against fouling in the act, but IIRC that was Joe D leading. I hate when he does it. Joe D. gives his opinion 3 hours a day and during games, I would rather hear what the coach thinks. He did again later when he brought up not calling time after the Temple hoop. "I'll give you my take..." I got the impression KO wanted a timeout, though he didn't come out and say it.

 

[Waquoit]

Well, that was the 82 team. The 81 team went 20-9, they played Ewing during his freshman year in 1981....

The last 8 games that team played were in 1982, cherry-picker. And UConn never played Ewing in 1981

 

[David 76]

That team lost 7 out of their last 8 games. With Dom at the helm, they aren't annihilating anyone.

Yeah, I don't remember us "holding our own or beating" those teams.

 

[Waquoit]

Yeah, I don't remember us "holding our own or beating" those teams.

Though we should have. Especially in 1981, the league was ripe for picking and we spit the bit. Instead BCU wins with a bunch of Connecticut players.

 

[David 76]

Yeah, I thought Corny & Mike would do more for us. We just stopped getting better.

 

[selles]

He said they talked about fouling in the huddle. He said he felt his instructions were too open to interpretation. He wanted them to let the dribbler put in on the floor, then foul. Next time he'll have them foul as soon as it's inbounded. They talked about being guarding against fouling in the act, but IIRC that was Joe D leading. I hate when he does it. Joe D. gives his opinion 3 hours a day and during games, I would rather hear what the coach thinks. He did again later when he brought up not calling time after the Temple hoop. "I'll give you my take..." I got the impression KO wanted a timeout, though he didn't come out and say it.

Thanks. So...basically he told them the right thing to do?

 

[upstater]

The last 8 games that team played were in 1982, cherry-picker. And UConn never played Ewing in 1981

Huh, I thought Ewing was on the 1981 team. Anyway, I didn't name a year. I was talking about that team in general, it was the same exact team, 7 deep, and they had some success their first 2 years in the BE before they began the downtrend. Corny Thompson, Aleksinas, Mike McKay, Norman Bailey, Giscombe, Hobbs, etc.

 

[mauconnfan]

Yeah, I thought Corny & Mike would do more for us. We just stopped getting better.

No guards, how much can good big guys do without competitive guards? I mean Bobby Dulin was ok at best and he was their PG with help from Clay Johnson and Disco Sullivan. Hobbsie and Vern were gone when Corny, Mike and Chuck were all seniors, they would have helped for sure. Great FT shooting team, #1 in the country if I remember correctly like a crazy 80% as a team? I've always said give them Earl Kelley and they would have been tremendous.

 

[Waquoit]

Hobbsie and Vern were gone when Corny, Mike and Chuck were all seniors, they would have helped for sure. ... I've always said give them Earl Kelley and they would have been tremendous.

Actually, Hobbs and Giscombe were sophomores when Corny was a senior. Perno didn't play Vern enough. Then again, Dom's last recruiting class was probably his second best, and he didn't play those guys (Cliff and Phil) either.

 

[Waquoit]

Huh, I thought Ewing was on the 1981 team. Anyway, I didn't name a year.

You wrote, "The 81 team went 20-9, they played Ewing during his freshman year in 1981." How you can say you didn't name a year, well that's just a gift. And the way you move goalposts, effortless.

 

[mauconnfan]

Actually, Hobbs and Giscombe were sophomores when Corny was a senior. Perno didn't play Vern enough. Then again, Dom's last recruiting class was probably his second best, and he didn't play those guys (Cliff and Phil) either.

That's right, neither of them played enough. Perno never played Vern enough.

 

[upstater]

You wrote, "The 81 team went 20-9, they played Ewing during his freshman year in 1981." How you can say you didn't name a year, well that's just a gift. And the way you move goalposts, effortless.

Initially, man. I didn't name a year initially when I talked about the Hobbs-Corny team being a top ACC caliber type team in current terms. You're the one who picked a year. Sheesh.

 

[David 76]

[QUOTE="mauconnfan, post: 1533721, member: 489" I mean Bobby Dulin was ok at best and he was their PG with help from Clay Johnson and Disco Sullivan.[/QUOTE]
Disco Sullivan! I forgot.

JC would have gotten a lot more out of that team. It was good!
My memory was that Corny came on like gangbusters as an underclassman then stalled.
Not sure that was fair to Corny

 

[auror]

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.

There is little correlation between your record in close games to date and your record in close games going forward. There is too much variability and randomness in basketball to consistently win those types of games through coaching, etc. You can try to optimize late game strategy, but a team's "clutchness" or "heart" or proper strategy is so heavily outweighed in actual results by shooting luck, reffing decisions, and even simple things like ball bounces. Using the foul to give helps UConn's overall chances minimally after subtracting for the risks.

This is a non-story.

 

[imno1]

There is little correlation between your record in close games to date and your record in close games going forward. There is too much variability and randomness in basketball to consistently win those types of games through coaching, etc. You can try to optimize late game strategy, but a team's "clutchness" or "heart" or proper strategy is so heavily outweighed in actual results by shooting luck, reffing decisions, and even simple things like ball bounces. Using the foul to give helps UConn's overall chances minimally after subtracting for the risks.

This is a non-story.

Cute.... But I disagree. And by not using the foul we know how that turned out.

 

[auror]

Cute.... But I disagree. And by not using the foul we know how that turned out.