Play with the faster pace

[Scrappy3]

Both games we struggled going into the shot clock. We just look better playing at the quicker pace

 

[UConnTrumbull]

Yup. And I’ll add that a lot of the time our faster pace comes from playing from behind. We need to manufacture pace before we’re down 12. And that comes from good defense and tough rebounding - unfortunately something we haven’t seen much of this year. Also need to feed Reed more. Guy was unstoppable last night yet only had a handful of shots.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Ball has gotten muchb stickier this year and doesn't move nearly as much.

This allows defenses to recover and reset and makes getting open looks much more difficult.

 

[freshler40]

Ball has gotten muchb stickier this year and doesn't move nearly as much.

This allows defenses to recover and reset and makes getting open looks much more difficult.

Seems like too much dribbling, to no effect, except to run down the shot clock and let the defense set up. Many late game reviews are also a problem as both coaches install their options. On occasions, we've had trouble getting the ball in place against athletic teams.

 

[dogpause]

This year's team just seems to play better at a faster pace. It appears to make it tougher for opponents to defend, adds more fluidity to our offense, and make the press more effective by increasing the pace.

 

[boog204]

Both games we struggled going into the shot clock. We just look better playing at the quicker pace

Need to get stops and move the ball to play with effective pace. Hass has been great for the most part this year, but there's quite a few possessions where he is dribbling around waiting for something to happen. It's a given that our offense would not be as fluid this year as we went from effectively having three point guards on the court to one, but the ball tends to stick in Hass' hands far too much. Part of this is that without Liam, Hass is pretty much the only guy with a dependable handle. Solo had some a couple nice takes last night, but his handle is pretty loose.

 

[storrsroars]

Both games we struggled going into the shot clock. We just look better playing at the quicker pace

Interesting article in The Athletic today on a DII coach who presses the entire game. Sounds like his practices are more grueling than Danny's. You really need to be in great shape to play in this system. Averages >80 possessions/game. And the coach isn't even a student of hoops.

NBA greats think this D-II coach is a basketball genius. So why don’t you know who he is?

Jim Crutchfield, a former math teacher who coached tennis before getting his big break, is touted by Erik Spoelstra, Brad Stevens and more.

www.nytimes.com

 

[auror]

Just because an announcer says it, doesn't make it true. We play a lot in transition, and that's good. Once you're not in transition, get the best shot.

 

[Get a Job]

Just because an announcer says it, doesn't make it true. We play a lot in transition, and that's good. Once you're not in transition, get the best shot.

 

[DogMania]

Ball has gotten muchb stickier this year and doesn't move nearly as much.

This allows defenses to recover and reset and makes getting open looks much more difficult.

I haven't chimed in about the game so here is as good as any. A few observations:

Throughout long stretches they simply were executing the motion offense poorly and far too slowly to create scoring advantages. It even seemed like some members of the 5 on the floor were not hitting the right spots. Lack of off ball timing and/or not even moving to the correct spot resulted in a lot of late low percentage shots. Also, not distributing the ball to the open rolling big seemed to be missed too often.

Again, poor execution on D hurt them as well. Too much switching between the big and perimeter players creating advantageous matchups for Nova, who exploited their big on small inside (lots of FTs out of that) and some good small on big outside shots. Stopping penetration continues to be a weakness, though there have been some signs of improvement. On a loosely related note, Mahaney showed vast improvement keeping his man in front of him and contesting some shots in the paint without fouling. I hope his improvement continues.

Karaban, needs to reduce those very deep 3s when there's lots of time on the clock. I know he can hit those, but during important possessions when the score is tight or they're behind or ahead by a few points it's better to look for higher percentage shots or at least closer 3s. Those misses are hard to offensively rebound and sometimes result in run outs the other way resulting in a 4 to 6 point swing (i.e. Instead of 2 or 3 points of our own, it's 0 for us and 2 to 3 for them).

What looked like a second unit run resulted in a net negative and change of momentum. Even when Hurley subbed the starters back in they were out of sorts for a while. I don't want to see that again in any close games. I'm fine with working a little used bench player with 3 to 4 starters and primary rotation players. If that's what Hurley had done they probably would have had a net positive, enough to make a difference at the end of the game resulting in a W.

Great comeback, though they stalled late in the game and didn't make winning plays during winning time. Even after getting 3 to 4 chances at the end of that game, which included a gift phantom call, they weren't able to get those winning points. Didn't understand that first early shot that would have given Nova plenty of time to win it. Hurley needs to draw up better late scoring plays and/or the players need to improve the execution of them.

 

[Hurleyman216]

I agree with many here that we look better playing at a faster pace. The contrary going back the past 2 years is we wore teams down by making them guard for 25 seconds and still getting the shot we wanted. That’s not happening yet because the ball movement isn’t as fluid (and might not get there). All that being said, we have the #2 rated offense in the country and will continue to improve as Stewart and Mahaney contribute more consistently. We really just need to fix the defense (and the officiating which we have no control over)