One Thing I Haven't Seen Mentioned | The Boneyard

One Thing I Haven't Seen Mentioned

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Was at MSG last night and have only skimmed the boards this morning, but with credit to my son for pointing it out to me let me make one point that I haven't seen discussion on.

The most critical and underappreciated part of college basketball is point guard defense. Everyone talks about how point guard play wins championships, but the converse (inverse?) is just as true -- if you stop the other team's point from running the show the way their coach wants it run, you're going to win a lot of games. See, e.g., a '99 championship with Ricky Moore guarding the point, an '04 championship with Taliek Brown guarding the point and a '14 championship with Ryan Boatright guarding the point. The '11 championship was the only one of our championship teams that didn't play outstanding defense at the point, and in the run to the championship freshman Napier, not needing to score or lead yet, provided a good job of it for half the games. We had great teams with A.J. Price and Marcus Williams at the point, but neither of them were good defenders and their teams always feel short. The last two years, teams ran their offenses against us however they wanted to.

Both Alterique and Smith friggin got after it last night. Maybe not quite the level of strength that Taliek had, or lateral quickness that Boat and Ricky had, but they worked their butts off, and the fact that we could give one a break and keep the same level of pressure on the other team's point was remarkable. And yes, I know Carey scored a boatload of points but the points came because when the D as a whole broke down, he was the guy left free at the end. Their poor shooting percentage was largely attributable to not being able to get into their offense a high percentage of the time because of pressure at the point.

If we play with that intensity, and are as good a shooting team as we've looked to be so far, we will compete for the AAC championship this year. Credit to Danny Hurley for turning the intensity and attitude around so quickly, and KO has no one to blame but himself for the team attitude falling off the cliff, but you will never convince me that the last two years wouldn't have played out very differently if Alterique had stayed healthy.
 
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No you're right. AG really bothered Carey from the jump and that set the tone for the early going and allowed us to build a bit of a lead. Then once Tarin came in he was absolutely in Battle's pocket while he was guarding him and made it hard for him to initiate their offense. They were completely discombobulated offensively in the 1st half and that was in large part due to our guards playing aggressive defense. Jalen and Vital were part of the equation too.
 
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Our backcourt was fantastic but Carey is clearly still a 2-guard at this point. Maybe he'll develop into a PG eventually but he's not one right now. Didn't look comfortable bringing the ball upcourt (not taking credit away from our effort), didn't make his team better and create, and had zero assists to six turnovers.
 
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The top 3 scorers for Syracuse (Hughes, Brisset, and Battle) were a combined 15-46 (5-17 from 3). I saw more contested 3 point shots last night in previous years. Carey got is points, but there was no offensive flow for Syracuse. 10 assists total vs 22 for Uconn. I am pleased that UConn seems to have the guard depth to play the tough man-to-man. Touchy fouls from whistle happy refs can really have a negative impact. Uconn only had 8 fouls in the 2nd half vs 14 in the first, but Carey was allowed a bit more freedom of movement in the 2nd half which lead to more scoring. Gilbert and others were conscious of the foul situation and played accordingly
 
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Our backcourt was fantastic but Carey is clearly still a 2-guard at this point. Maybe he'll develop into a PG eventually but he's not one right now. Didn't look comfortable bringing the ball upcourt (not taking credit away from our effort), didn't make his team better and create, and had zero assists to six turnovers

Just what to emphasize that he had 0 assists! That's almost hard to do...
 
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Speaking of defense, I have never seen someone have as much of an impact in as few minutes as Whaley did last night. Honestly, I figured he was a flight risk after last season (not that I would have blamed him) but his defensive wherewithal is unbelievable. In 3 minutes he had a block, a steal, a rebound, and at least one or two other solid defensive moments.
 

ctchamps

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Not only was there great man to man by our guards but they communicated with one another and switched on screens.

But more than anything our bigs were terrific at stopping Cuse players from driving to the basket. I give credit to Hurley for this last development.
 
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Speaking of defense, I have never seen someone have as much of an impact in as few minutes as Whaley did last night. Honestly, I figured he was a flight risk after last season (not that I would have blamed him) but his defensive wherewithal is unbelievable. In 3 minutes he had a block, a steal, a rebound, and at least one or two other solid defensive moments.

I'd be happy if he took most of Yakwe's minutes. The problem last year is he brought no offensive skill to a team that didn't know where it's points were coming from. If we can get points from every other position this year, we ought to be fine with a back up 4 who just brings energy and effort.
 

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Was at MSG last night and have only skimmed the boards this morning, but with credit to my son for pointing it out to me let me make one point that I haven't seen discussion on.

The most critical and underappreciated part of college basketball is point guard defense. Everyone talks about how point guard play wins championships, but the converse (inverse?) is just as true -- if you stop the other team's point from running the show the way their coach wants it run, you're going to win a lot of games. See, e.g., a '99 championship with Ricky Moore guarding the point, an '04 championship with Taliek Brown guarding the point and a '14 championship with Ryan Boatright guarding the point. The '11 championship was the only one of our championship teams that didn't play outstanding defense at the point, and in the run to the championship freshman Napier, not needing to score or lead yet, provided a good job of it for half the games. We had great teams with A.J. Price and Marcus Williams at the point, but neither of them were good defenders and their teams always feel short. The last two years, teams ran their offenses against us however they wanted to.

Both Alterique and Smith friggin got after it last night. Maybe not quite the level of strength that Taliek had, or lateral quickness that Boat and Ricky had, but they worked their butts off, and the fact that we could give on a break and keep the same level of pressure on the other team's point was remarkable. And yes, I know Carey scored a boatload of points but the points came because when the D as a whole broke down, he was the guy left free at the end. Their poor shooting percentage was largely attributable to not being able to get into their offense a high percentage of the time because of pressure at the point.

If we play with that intensity, and are as good a shooting team as we've looked to be so far, we will compete for the AAC championship this year. Credit to Danny Hurley for turning the intensity and attitude around so quickly, and KO has no one to blame but himself for the team attitude falling off the cliff, but you will never convince me that the last two years wouldn't have played out very differently if Alterique had stayed healthy.

Agree with all your points except 2011. Kemba was a defensive beast at point.
 

ctchamps

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Speaking of defense, I have never seen someone have as much of an impact in as few minutes as Whaley did last night. Honestly, I figured he was a flight risk after last season (not that I would have blamed him) but his defensive wherewithal is unbelievable. In 3 minutes he had a block, a steal, a rebound, and at least one or two other solid defensive moments.
There also was a mini run by Cuse when Whaley came in because he lost his player on defense. But the kid is arguably our most athletic big. That block where he came down with the ball was a thing of beauty. The look on the Cuse player’s face was priceless.
 
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ctchamps

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I'd be happy if he took most of Yakwe's minutes. The problem last year is he brought no offensive skill to a team that didn't know where it's points were coming from. If we can get points from every other position this year, we ought to be fine with a back up 4 who just brings energy and effort.
Yakwe was out all summer and preseason. I’m not ready to give up on him because he has the body that won’t let opposing players push around. Let’s give him a few more games before making him a water boy.
 
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I think that you are right. What we are seeing is a commitment by the players to Hurley's style. He preaches a man to man defense that pressures the ball handler. After last Sunday's game, he spoke of how option one on defense is to "blow up the ball handler" for the other team. Gilbert is really ideally suited for this style. The other guards have made the same commitment, but Gilbert is a tremendous on-ball defender. What you saw last night was proof that this roster has bought in to this defensive philosophy. They have made the commitment to play that style. Boeheim mentioned after the game that UConn plays with a toughness that his team doesn't have. I agree. They will not always be the more talented team on the floor, but they will always be the toughest team. I think that is a tremendous place from which to start a rebuild.
 
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Speaking of defense, I have never seen someone have as much of an impact in as few minutes as Whaley did last night. Honestly, I figured he was a flight risk after last season (not that I would have blamed him) but his defensive wherewithal is unbelievable. In 3 minutes he had a block, a steal, a rebound, and at least one or two other solid defensive moments.

And that's exactly how Whaley played in his two minutes against Morehead, before the sprain. Whaley for Yakwe is a big positive change waiting to be plugged into the UConn frontcourt.
 

Husky25

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Just what to emphasize that he had 0 assists! That's almost hard to do...
Somewhat related...As a team, UConn had 5 or fewer assists in a game 3 times last year. They haven't had less than 14 (Morehead) so far this season. If they get 14 or more vs. Iowa tonight, they will equal the number of games last year in which they got 14 or more assists. That is mind boggling.

It's hard to reconcile the fact that Ollie was a point guard and how his guards played over his last few seasons.
 
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ctchamps

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Somewhat related...As a team, UConn had 5 or fewer assists in a game 3 times last year. They haven't had less than 14 (Morehead) so far this season.

It's hard to reconcile the fact that Ollie was a point guard and how his guards played over his last few seasons.
When you shoot 57% from three you get a lot of assists.
 
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Speaking of defense, I have never seen someone have as much of an impact in as few minutes as Whaley did last night. Honestly, I figured he was a flight risk after last season (not that I would have blamed him) but his defensive wherewithal is unbelievable. In 3 minutes he had a block, a steal, a rebound, and at least one or two other solid defensive moments.
About that. I was confused. I think it was Whaley at the two minute mark of the first half who not even blocked but caught the ball, the announcers even made note of what a great block it was, so why did cuse inbound? I didn't get that..
 
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ctchamps

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When the ball never stops and you make the right passes you realize you have shooters.
The ball has to go through the nets. Think CV in UKCM game. Think Jalen in this game.
 
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About that. I was confused. I think it was Whaley at the two minute mark of the first half who not even blocked but caught the ball, the announcers even made note of what a great block it was, with why did cuse inbound? I didn't get that..
They called it a jump ball.
 
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I'd be happy if he took most of Yakwe's minutes. The problem last year is he brought no offensive skill to a team that didn't know where it's points were coming from. If we can get points from every other position this year, we ought to be fine with a back up 4 who just brings energy and effort.

Disagree on Yakwe like him a lot. Really active and can block shots. Also got screwed on 3 of his fouls took a charge, made a block straight up and forget the other one but the stripes killed him. He boxes out and is physical on the interior more so than other bigs. He's athletic and just getting back to playing, like what I see minus the bad passes. One of the 2 bad passes was a great offensive rebound in traffic and they tripled him with Chukwu blocking his sight, should've just gone straight up and hope to score or get a foul who cares if he blocks the shot?

All in all I see a guy who will get a lot of minutes depending on the match ups.
 
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Hurley has to be salivating right now realizing that this year's UConn team is so much more talented than his team last year at URI that took him multiple years to build up. Most people in the media think he got handed a dumpster fire, but the reality of it is he's got a 5 star point guard, another borderline 5 star senior shooting guard, an extremely talented transfer combo guard along with a whole slew of kids rated 100-150 who clearly have decided they'll go to war for their coach. I'm not saying this team has the talent to win a championship, but they certainly have enough to make a run to the Sweet 16 or Elite 8 if everyone stays healthy. It really is amazing what a little coaching will do with the same group of talent.
 

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