Our Guards

[jibsey]

Shot 31% last night. Our team shot 48% but that is a mirage because Clingan went 8-11 which if removed brings us back to 42% principally bolstered by Sanogo and Karaban.. Hawkins 1-8. That’s completely unacceptable from a guy who if he makes a shot gets the words “Ray Allen“ and “Richard Hamilton“ thrown at him by announcers. You can have 1 guard have a bad day but all of them? And they didn’t defend well at all. The 3 losses have teams destroying us on drives to the basket and short to midrange. Clingan was spectacular last night but in a tourney situation he cannot do this by himself. We’re going to beat some teams in the BE and this will be forgotten but against these better teams this deficiency rears it’s head. You need to have 1 great guard who can get their shot consistently and we don’t have that. Hurley has no answer here that I can see, unless he can mix up some scheme in his cauldron.

 

[rjnardi007]

The offense stands around watching the game NO MOVEMENT WITHOUT THE BALL
and that doesn’t open up unguarded shots AND doesn’t tire out the man to man defenses watch the players without the ball specifically Karaban
also THEY DONT CRASH THE BOARDS!!!
They basically stand around 20 feet from the basket and nobody is underneath other than maybe the big men when they take the outside shot
And last very few are driving to the hoop creating possible 3 pt plays
They need to mix it up and get some defenses to foul them

Lastly how bout Zone it up a bit
Man will physically tire you out for 40 min
And maybe why nobody is hitting 3 s anymore cause their feet are beat

Team looks tired and is without a leader on defense or offense except maybe Jackson or Cregen
Team plays street basketball
With little coaching going on when that happens…

 

[CTBasketball]

I’ll consolidate my thoughts/rebuttal:

1. This team is incredibly easy to gameplan for. Double or deny Sanogo. Double Hawkins off screens or be physical with him. We have no one else who can beat you by themselves.
2. No one in this conference will win road games vs. the top half of the league. 4 or 5 way tie for first place all 14-6, 15-5, or 16-4.
3. Players depend on Sanogo too much. When he scores 15 pts and lets up 15 himself it’s a problem.

 

[UConnSwag11]

Play Diarra at point. He plays with a purpose. If not, play jackson and put Joey at the 1. Jackson needs to be as confident getting to the rim as he is shooting threes

 

[tykurez]

Play Diarra at point. He plays with a purpose. If not, play jackson and put Joey at the 1. Jackson needs to be as confident getting to the rim as he is shooting threes

The weaknesses are starting to show - I like Diarra for his defense but he’s 6’2” if he’s lucky and cannot shoot the ball.

Tristen needs to figure it out - he played well against Creighton but has played so poorly on the road. He had 0 FT attempts last night. Unacceptable.

 

[UConnSwag11]

The weaknesses are starting to show - I like Diarra for his defense but he’s 6’2” if he’s lucky and cannot shoot the ball.

Tristen needs to figure it out - he played well against Creighton but has played so poorly on the road. He had 0 FT attempts last night. Unacceptable.

Hurley seemed to try Hawkins at the point last night too. Wouldn’t hurt to try Alleyne. I like Diarra because he’s tough and plays with a purpose.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Play Diarra at point. He plays with a purpose. If not, play jackson and put Joey at the 1. Jackson needs to be as confident getting to the rim as he is shooting threes

I'll give the first sentence a thumbs down. I'll give the rest a thumbs up.

Playing Diarra more is not the answer. He can't shoot and teams will slack off him causing even more congestion. Part of the reason you can't start Diarra is you already have Jackson, who teams already slack off, and Sanogo who is a post player. Can't have 3 non-shooters on the court.

 

[tykurez]

Hurley seemed to try Hawkins at the point last night too. Wouldn’t hurt to try Alleyne. I like Diarra because he’s tough and plays with a purpose.

I would like to see Alleyne get some more minutes out of anyone else. He’s got size at 6’4”, is a good defender and a good rebounder as well. We’ve also seem him show the ability to finish at the rim. I think for him it’s mostly lack of confidence that could be remedied with some more court time.

 

[80shusky]

The biggest problem with the guards is that we don't have anyone who will consistently drive the lane and go to the basket to score or get fouled. If none of our perimeter players ever drive there is no reason for defenders to sag off of them. So the other team's guys are in our jocks the whole game. Hard to shoot 3s when you have a 6-3 guy standing on your johnson. I get that maybe that is not a strong part of the games of the perimeter players we have but the coaches have to get them to do it more and get them to the line. It will help get defenders to sag off the perimeter some, open up some passing lanes, lead to kick outs etc.

 

[Chin Diesel]

I'd almost feel more comfortable with the starters if Jackson played the point and Newton and Hawkins just played as wings. Newton is showing he isn't picking up the PG concepts and roles and it's hurting the team. Let's not forget Cole had a RS season to practice and learn and still had a rough first season with decision making and running the team.

Take the responsibility away from Newton and let Jackson role with it.

I don't know what the solution is for hiding Newton on D. He has been dreadful allowing his man to get momentum downhill and towards the rim.

 

[uchusky32]

We didn't change/adjust to how they were defending Hawk. The screening didn't work. Tristen's handle is suspect. He plays weak. Need to advance our offensive philosophy. AJ dinnaly attack the basket for a layup. Need much more of that.

 

[Gurleyman]

It isn’t just yesterday. In BE play, our six perimeter guys are shooting 35, 34, 34, 33, 29 and 27 percent. (Karaban is 42.). It’s just basically taking turns missing.

 

[JustbrewitMan]

In our 3 losses:

The guards other than Hawkins are shooting a combined 6-14 from the FT line. Hawkins has shot 15, but I think at least 6 of them have been fouls on 3pt attempts. Maybe even 9.

They have gotten only 14 fricken FTs in 3 games. Let that sink in.

At the same time, the guards combined (including Hawkins) have shot a combined 16-62 (25.8%) from 3pt and 18-52 (34.6%) from 2pt

I don't have the time to shot-chart all of them, but a large % of the 3s I would consider as "good looks from 3"

Our guards are just not bringing their shooting and aggressiveness for our tough away games.

 

[UConnSwag11]

I'd almost feel more comfortable with the starters if Jackson played the point and Newton and Hawkins just played as wings. Newton is showing he isn't picking up the PG concepts and roles and it's hurting the team. Let's not forget Cole had a RS season to practice and learn and still had a rough first season with decision making and running the team.

Take the responsibility away from Newton and let Jackson role with it.

I don't know what the solution is for hiding Newton on D. He has been dreadful allowing his man to get momentum downhill and towards the rim.

Agreed. Jackson looks much more confident handling the ball. See if Newton can be a scoring guard. If not, play Jackson, Hawkins, Karaban, Sanogo, Clingan

 

[superjohn]

I'd almost feel more comfortable with the starters if Jackson played the point and Newton and Hawkins just played as wings. Newton is showing he isn't picking up the PG concepts and roles and it's hurting the team. Let's not forget Cole had a RS season to practice and learn and still had a rough first season with decision making and running the team.

Take the responsibility away from Newton and let Jackson role with it.

I don't know what the solution is for hiding Newton on D. He has been dreadful allowing his man to get momentum downhill and towards the rim.

Agreed. Hurley even said something to the effect of the offense isn't working and they're playing like robots. Every Big East team has done the same thing against us defensively except for McDermott, change it up coach.

 

[NEforceUConn]

How about AJ at point, Hawk and AK at wings, with 2 of Sanogo/Clingan/Johnson up front.

Hawk would have to get back when AJ goes for offensive rebounds.

If Johnson needs another week give Springs a run.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Not for nothing, this is our second year in a row we have struggled to finish at the rim. It was a huge problem last year too. The year before only Bouknight could do it. Why can’t we bring in guys who can get to the rim?

 

[yungdowork]

Newton isn't playing like he did at ECU. His usage is a lot lower here, and he spends a lot more time off the ball behind the 3 point arc. His assist rate is his lowest ever, he's shooting more 3's than he ever did, and has his worst defensive rating ever (probably a result of better competition). I know the Big East is a big step up, but I think we need to either try to let him play more of his game, or have him be the primary scorer on the 2nd unit or something. Last season, he shot 50% from 2, this year he's shooting 33%, and he's taking like 25% less free throws. I think it's hard for him since we have Sanogo posting up virtually every possession and there isn't a lot of space where he historically thrived for ECU.

 

[NotADime89]

Jackson needs to be as confident getting to the rim as he is shooting threes

Totally agree. He easily blew by his defender for a layup last night, I don't get why he doesn't do that more often. It seems he always has his defender on their heels but instead he either pulls out to the 3 point line or dishes to someone. I think he needs to play a little more selfishly and take the ball to the rack more often.

 

[dennismenace]

I would like to see Alleyne get some more minutes out of anyone else. He’s got size at 6’4”, is a good defender and a good rebounder as well. We’ve also seem him show the ability to finish at the rim. I think for him it’s mostly lack of confidence that could be remedied with some more court time.

Also has a number of years of experience playing in the ACC where he averaged 37% from 3. Don't like
to trade horses in the middle of the stream but the present setup will not work with the setup Dan is using now.

We lacked protecting the ball down the stretch last night which is unacceptable. It's one thing to have trouble shooting but not protecting the ball cost us dearly.

 

[Tenspro2002]

I’ll consolidate my thoughts/rebuttal:

1. This team is incredibly easy to gameplan for. Double or deny Sanogo. Double Hawkins off screens or be physical with him. We have no one else who can beat you by themselves.
2. No one in this conference will win road games vs. the top half of the league. 4 or 5 way tie for first place all 14-6, 15-5, or 16-4.
3. Players depend on Sanogo too much. When he scores 15 pts and lets up 15 himself it’s a problem.

I agree with an over-reliance on Sanogo.

It's tempting to just give him the ball and let him go to work, because when it does work, he makes it look easy.

The problem is, when it doesn't work, we're getting low-percentage opportunities for 2, at best, usually little chance of a rebound, and confidence and momentum for the opponent.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Totally agree. He easily blew by his defender for a layup last night, I don't get why he doesn't do that more often. It seems he always has his defender on their heels but instead he either pulls out to the 3 point line or dishes to someone. I think he needs to play a little more selfishly and take the ball to the rack more often.

I don't think Jackson has confidence that he can make a layup, so he doesn't try.

It sounds ridiculous to say about a guy who's talked about as a potential (albeit unlikely) first round pick, but all evidence points in this direction.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

I don't think Jackson has confidence that he can make a layup, so he doesn't try.

It sounds ridiculous to say about a guy who's talked about as a potential (albeit unlikely) first round pick, but all evidence points in this direction.

That’s unacceptable. This is where Hurley needs to step in and make it mandatory to attempts a few drives a game minimum. Or don’t play.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Newton isn't playing like he did at ECU. His usage is a lot lower here, and he spends a lot more time off the ball behind the 3 point arc. His assist rate is his lowest ever, he's shooting more 3's than he ever did, and has his worst defensive rating ever (probably a result of better competition). I know the Big East is a big step up, but I think we need to either try to let him play more of his game, or have him be the primary scorer on the 2nd unit or something. Last season, he shot 50% from 2, this year he's shooting 33%, and he's taking like 25% less free throws. I think it's hard for him since we have Sanogo posting up virtually every possession and there isn't a lot of space where he historically thrived for ECU.

When teams post Sanogo up we need to use it as a screen when driving to the basket. Get by your guy and have Sanogo pick the big so there’s no rim protection. Instead of trying to throw it over the front.

Sanogo doesn’t have the quickness or athleticism to take advantage of guys fronting him and defenders can recover quickly. Only DC can take advantage because once he gets the ball, it’s a dunk.

 

[UConnSwag11]

Next year we won’t have this problem with Castle starting