Post game presser

[Gringo]

Not fouling was bad. I also thought we should go 2 for 1. We had the ball with 50 seconds left. I don't know why we didn't try and score earlier. Seemed obvious to me to try and get something quick.

 

[BlueandOG]

KO is a great person, outstanding recruiter, and superlative role model for college players. However, he is still a green head coach. Saint Jim was able to cut his teeth at Northeastern before starting the winning hoops tradition at UConn. We need to give KO a few mulligans in the first few seasons. If he learns and becomes a student of the game, he will be an outstanding head coach. If not, we have to move on. The mistake is anointing him the next BIG DEAL too soon.

 

[Kembacity]

Ugh you people are ridiculous and pathetic

I hope nobody commits suicide over a mid-season college basketball loss guys, stay strong

 

[Chin Diesel]

“I have so much respect for Fran, he had his guys ready. Both teams didn’t shoot the ball well, particularly us going 4-20. No fast break points, if you do that it’s a recipe for disaster. Brown made a hell of a play down the stretch to get that bucket. We just got to go back to work, we got a day off, hopefully those guys look themselves in the mirror, I know I will and we’ll bounce back like champions.”



On the loose balls and rebounds they couldn’t get to:



“Fifty-fifty balls definitely disappoint especially in a game like this. Our fans are so wonderful and they show us so much support and we have to get fifty-fifty balls. It was definitely disappointing but at the same time we got to learn from this. Not shoot well and some of our best players don’t show up it’s just gonna be hard for us to win. We have to do the dirty things, we call those touches and getting offensive rebounds.”

Please tell me this is you doing a parody and not actually said by any employee or player from UConn.

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

Please tell me this is you doing a parody and not actually said by any employee or player from UConn.

Can you imagine how Theodore Roosevelt would feel about this Ollie quote? lol

Sad!

 

[UConn76]

WTF? That's not true at all.

I was there and I think the crowd really wanted to get into the game...but that's what 31% shooting does to any momentum...

 

[mauconnfan]

Ugh you people are ridiculous and pathetic

I hope nobody commits suicide over a mid-season college basketball loss guys, stay strong

I'm guessing the first line here was to the UConn staff and players for last night. The next was for the Boneyard in general. Right?

 

[Kembacity]

I'm guessing the first line here was to the UConn staff and players for last night. The next was for the Boneyard in general. Right?

You know a few years ago maybe it would be, but I've become a lot better at dealing with the losses. I will still use a great UConn win to buoy my mood for a few days, but I'm over being truly bummed out over a loss. These kids are worrying about a lot more than rushing to a loose ball or rebound in their lives, sometimes they might not have their head all in the game and I can accept that if its once in a while. I'm moderately bummed this team isn't as talented maybe as we all thought, but at the end of the day they might look like a top 10 team in a month so I just have to shake my head at some of these comments, but I'm a 33 year old white guy so I wont write "SMH" there

 

[Waquoit]

Ugh you people are ridiculous and pathetic

"you people"?

 

[intlzncster]

The fans basically sucked pond water. Awful job there tonight, pitiful.

Team has to give them something, something, to cheer about. Hard to go nuts when the team is literally sh_tting themselves (note: I check no ones' pants). The effort wasn't even there most of the game. If the guys are going balls out, the fans notice and will cheer, results be damned. But if not, why should wee expect them to get up?

 

[Hugo]

This wasn't the first time KO didn't go for the 2 for 1 in a situation like this. He's done this in the past and although I don't agree with his philosophy on this, he is consistent. Now not fouling in the last 14 seconds, that's a whole different matter and one where there is no excuse for not fouling.

 

[Gurleyman]

A possible excuse for not fouling could be that we don't have a good recent history of defending plays off inbounds passes (everybody has some o/b plays in the playbook) and he wanted to trust his defense to get the stop in live action. I've always thought fouling deliberately is something that really should be done only if you feel you are at a disadvantage in live play, but it seems that most teams, NBA teams especially, just automatically do it so it's become an accepted norm. And this was a case where really it should have been done - down to last five seconds with a guard getting into the paint who, at the right moment, wasn't an immediate threat to shoot. You give it then and you make their job harder - but it takes a certain degree of savviness to know when to foul at the right time. If we were instructing our guys to foul, we probably would have done it sooner (around 8-10 seconds).

Rushing a 2 for 1 when you are down by two isn't necessarily a great idea if you aren't sure there's time to get off a good shot. We had the ball with 50 under our own basket, and when you are trailing, you really want to get the shot off at about 40 to ensure that by the time the rebound is pulled in and the shot clock resets, there's a five second differential or more (so that the last possession is actually a possession and not a heave). If you just force up crap and miss, the other team can dagger you at the end of the shot clock and that's that. So if we wanted to do two for one, we had 10 seconds to go the length of the court, which isn't really time to do much more than run one ball screen or hand off and force it up. Better to make sure you get a good look and then decide what to do from there (you can still have a few more possessions with deliberate fouling). If it's tied, you know you'll get the ball back again with a chance to tie or win even if they score, so you can be a bit more reckless.

Ideally I'd have liked to see us inbounds to mid court and call timeout to try to get up a legitimate shot. But that requires quick thinking from everyone.

Disappointed in the finish, but more disappointed it came down to that at home. We gave up too many layups when the crowd was really starting to get into it, when it felt like we were a stop and a score away from really going on a sustained run and putting the hammer down. I don't want to oversell AB's absence (we only gave up 54 points), but at one of those points if he gets a big block with the crowd into it, we maybe sustain the momentum longer instead of giving it away.

 

[Uconnrick]

For those who think KO doesn't get fiery he did have some tough words in the presser for DHam:

KO: I didn't see no energy (out of Hamilton). I don't know what it was but I didn't see no energy till the end of the game.

So.....,....sit his butt for 4 or 5 minutes and get his attention! Come on KO, grab these guys by the balls and let them know what's what!

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

"you people"?

We need a house meeting, y'all. I don't feel safe.

I would much rather KO articulate a specific reason as to why they didn't foul. I won't necessarily agree with the decision, but the alternative - not knowing they had one to give - is coaching malpractice.