Post Game Reactions and Expectations.

[Huskyforlife]

Adams could've scored 50 if he felt like it

Vital should start for Larrier in game 1

Gilbert is going to be a great Robin

Williams doesn't belong anywhere near the court in a real game

Diarra is our best pure 4

Carlton does have great hands and touch around the rim

Larrier might have a frustrating year

Polly isn't ready to be a consistent contributor quite yet.


Queens is terrible.

 

[scotty0330]

You came to conclusion a guy who played 6 minutes is our best power forward?

I stopped reading after that.

 

[UConnJim]

Williams can be disruptive in the press, but I don't think he will play significant minutes. I agree Polley needs time to develop.

My takeaway from tonight's game was that UConn was good when they passed and focused. They weren't good when they jacked up shots and lost focus. That said, the rotations aren't set and if players slack, I'm sure they will be pulled.

 

[Jaybo]

The Next 3 games will tell us a lot more than the 3 exhibitions.

 

[Wordbomar]

When we shoot well from the 3, our offense flows much better and it’s obvious.

I like our flexible lineup with Larrier at the four spot.

Jalen didn’t try to do too much tonight again, as I’ve previously stated, I hope he’s ready to be the man come 7:00 Friday against Colgate and be our leader.

Also enjoyed our play by our young bigs, I’m fine with bigs by committee if that’s what Ollie chooses to do and just play the hot hand.

Anderson played better tonight, we will need him to at least give minutes to rest AG, JA, or CV.

Love Vital off the bench for a little spark, hope we continue to do that.

Someone mentioned in another thread how they like the foundation this freshman class has layed and could be the most unheralded class ever at UConn. I agree this class could be extremely good if they can develop but we need to recruit some scorers over the next two years which in my opinion is key to the success of the program moving forward.

And finally, I think we’re starting to get a taste of how good Gilbert is, and can be in the future which is a great thing to see.

Agree that next 3 games will tell us a lot and I’m excited for some meaningful basketball!!

Looking forward to seeing many of you at Gampel on Friday!

Go Huskies

 

[Palatine]

Vital is our only dependable three point shooter. Anderson may be next best.

Larrier plays better when he doesn't force the game. He is a very able passer and could almost be a point forward. But he wants to score and that leads him into bad plays.

But this team needs to be more focused. Really hoping that they can be consistent and minimize their stretches of sloppy basketball.

 

[zepfan]

Adams could've scored 50 if he felt like it

Vital should start for Larrier in game 1

Gilbert is going to be a great Robin

Williams doesn't belong anywhere near the court in a real game

Diarra is our best pure 4

Carlton does have great hands and touch around the rim

Larrier might have a frustrating year

Polly isn't ready to be a consistent contributor quite yet.


Queens is terrible.

I saw the game similarly to your assessment. My take-aways were:
1. Gilbert finally showed that he can hit outside shots. He is so quick off the dribble he can get in the paint whenever he chooses. If he can hit 3s and pull-up jumpers he will be another great uconn guard at some point.
2. Larrier struggles when he tries to do too much (forced shots, dribbling where he can't or shouldn't go). He needs to stay within his abilities. He looks very undisciplined at times. Not sure what he will do when it matters. He is obviously skilled but his decisions are poor too often. I hope he settles down.
3. CV can shoot the 3, thank god! Great energy.
4. Adams is strolling through pre-season. He proved how good he could be last year. Hopefully he picks up where he left off.
5. Anderson looks like he can shoot - could be key against zones.
6. Diarra is probably our best 4 but he is very unproven. I see the potential but I am not a believer yet. I hope he changes my mind.
7. Polley, Whalley and Carlson are all very promising but still quite young/thin. Not sure how much we get from them in real games. How long it takes them to mature is anyone's guess.
8. Cobb appears solid and our only big. He will need to get minutes against big teams.
9. Coach Ollie does not seem to have instilled enough offensive discipline on this team. Collectively, they take turns making bad plays by trying to do too much. They can't afford to have throw-away possessions - their not good enough. I hope this changes when season starts. The team should have one collective mindset about what type of shots they want and from who. It can't be each player trying to discover what they can do.
10. Seems that they were using full court and 3/4 court presses. Seems like we will need this. If we are going to have a successful season it is going to come from our guard play and Larrier. Others are all limited minute guys until someone emerges from the pack.

 

[Chief00]

Vital is our only dependable three point shooter. Anderson may be next best.

Larrier plays better when he doesn't force the game. He is a very able passer and could almost be a point forward. But he wants to score and that leads him into bad plays.

But this team needs to be more focused. Really hoping that they can be consistent and minimize their stretches of sloppy basketball.

I think Calhoun nailed Larrier in his podcast. Jim basically said he needs to work first at trying to be a good college player before trying to be an NBA guy. Quite frankly, this creates the situation where he throws up some really bad forced shots and unforced turnovers.

 

[Marbles90]

These div 2 exhibition teams are really really bad. I think you have to imagine UConn’s sloppy play against a decent div 1 team. There were way too many examples in this game. I see what I saw last year: some very talented basketball players who are undisciplined and do not know how to play as a team. Don’t be surprised if one (or two) of these early season cupcakes who are experienced and disciplined knocks us off again like Wagner and Northeastern did last year.

 

[awfuldan]

Agreed on Adams for sure. He literally could have scored at will tonight, and the same goes for the previous exhibition.

It's gonna be really fun to watch Polley, Whaley, and Carlton develop. I would like all three of those guys to play far more than Williams does this season.

 

[UChusky916]

Think you should have titled your post: "Post game OVER reactions".
Let's stop making overarching roster decisions based on this exhibition vs a cupcake.

 

[kansashusky]

Am I reading this correctly, we had 20 turnovers? ouch.

 

[Wordbomar]

Think you should have titled your post: "Post game OVER reactions".
Let's stop making overarching roster decisions based on this exhibition vs a cupcake.

I think most of these are fair. I agree roster decisions over exhibitions are foolish but I think people are more posting about how they feel regarding players and how things are coming together

 

[cohenzone]

I saw the game similarly to your assessment. My take-aways were:
1. Gilbert finally showed that he can hit outside shots. He is so quick off the dribble he can get in the paint whenever he chooses. If he can hit 3s and pull-up jumpers he will be another great uconn guard at some point.
2. Larrier struggles when he tries to do too much (forced shots, dribbling where he can't or shouldn't go). He needs to stay within his abilities. He looks very undisciplined at times. Not sure what he will do when it matters. He is obviously skilled but his decisions are poor too often. I hope he settles down.
3. CV can shoot the 3, thank god! Great energy.
4. Adams is strolling through pre-season. He proved how good he could be last year. Hopefully he picks up where he left off.
5. Anderson looks like he can shoot - could be key against zones.
6. Diarra is probably our best 4 but he is very unproven. I see the potential but I am not a believer yet. I hope he changes my mind.
7. Polley, Whalley and Carlson are all very promising but still quite young/thin. Not sure how much we get from them in real games. How long it takes them to mature is anyone's guess.
8. Cobb appears solid and our only big. He will need to get minutes against big teams.
9. Coach Ollie does not seem to have instilled enough offensive discipline on this team. Collectively, they take turns making bad plays by trying to do too much. They can't afford to have throw-away possessions - their not good enough. I hope this changes when season starts. The team should have one collective mindset about what type of shots they want and from who. It can't be each player trying to discover what they can do.
10. Seems that they were using full court and 3/4 court presses. Seems like we will need this. If we are going to have a successful season it is going to come from our guard play and Larrier. Others are all limited minute guys until someone emerges from the pack.

Great post. I’d love to see some discipline, on both sides of the ball, but that has been KO’s biggest failing. Erratic within games and from game to game. And on O,way too many individuals and few plays through the post.

 

[mauconnfan]

The hope is everyone understands the necessity of taking care of the ball every possession. Too many guys trying to do too much will be what hurts this team if it continues. There is a nice amount of talent on this team, some experienced some finding their way but they need to blend it all in while keeping TO's down to a minimum. We know the guards can play but even they need to be careful with the ball, have a plan when attacking. I like the big kids, convenient that they all can play a little so each night may be a different couple of guys getting more minutes based on playing well, foul trouble etc.. Think Cobb is the 5 like his size, skills and ability to pass the ball but he needs to play disciplined on defense, move his feet on the help side. Whaley will have his games, very active kid needs to keep his hands out so he stays our of foul trouble but I see him potentially getting the most minutes of all the bigs by 2018 schedule.

They played 2 teams who weren't very good we will need to see a lot more. Colgate will have a plan and be good enough to help us better understand where the defense is, the rebounding and the scoring inside. Looking forward to Friday and a better glimpse of what's coming for us.

 

[Danzz]

I think Calhoun nailed Larrier in his podcast. Jim basically said he needs to work first at trying to be a good college player before trying to be an NBA guy. Quite frankly, this creates the situation where he throws up some really bad forced shots and unforced turnovers.

Larrier shouldn't force shots but he does. Nothing like poor shot selection to kill momentum.

 

[Chief00]

The hope is everyone understands the necessity of taking care of the ball every possession. Too many guys trying to do too much will be what hurts this team if it continues. There is a nice amount of talent on this team, some experienced some finding their way but they need to blend it all in while keeping TO's down to a minimum. We know the guards can play but even they need to be careful with the ball, have a plan when attacking. I like the big kids, convenient that they all can play a little so each night may be a different couple of guys getting more minutes based on playing well, foul trouble etc.. Think Cobb is the 5 like his size, skills and ability to pass the ball but he needs to play disciplined on defense, move his feet on the help side. Whaley will have his games, very active kid needs to keep his hands out so he stays our of foul trouble but I see him potentially getting the most minutes of all the bigs by 2018 schedule.

They played 2 teams who weren't very good we will need to see a lot more. Colgate will have a plan and be good enough to help us better understand where the defense is, the rebounding and the scoring inside. Looking forward to Friday and a better glimpse of what's coming for us.

Chief certified - Great post.
Comes down to one word - “fundamentals” !

 

[Sphinx]

The exhibitions show a team with a confident, talented backcourt and a front court with enormous potential. Most surprising thing is the basic offensive skill level of the bigs. Only Kwintin seems to be a raw project. And they all seem like smart kids. KO and staff, despite all the criticism, have done an amazing recruiting job with this bunch. Now they need to surprise by actually making a team out of them. At this point, the team is still at the mercy of any well-schooled D1 team with decent size. It will take time, and they will lose battles. But you can lose the battle and win the war. Heck, as long as there's the AAC tournament, you can lose the war and win the post-war.

 

[JimHurley]

Larrier looks like he could be very frustrating. I think he lacks some IQ and decision making. The starting lineup for me is obvious - Gilbert, Adams, Vital, Diarra, Cobb. All 3 freshman are going to be good, but I'm not sure any will make a big impact this season and there's nothing wrong with that.

 

[mauconnfan]

Larrier looks like he could be very frustrating. I think he lacks some IQ and decision making. The starting lineup for me is obvious - Gilbert, Adams, Vital, Diarra, Cobb. All 3 freshman are going to be good, but I'm not sure any will make a big impact this season and there's nothing wrong with that.

Agree on Larrier he needs to be more disciplined on offense and rebound the ball more on the defensive end. But he also needs to be in the lineup if you want the best impact from your guards, teams will still worry about Larrier on the wing and being able to make a play. Not so much with Diarra if at all. But as you say, if it persists then the need may come to make changes.

 

[MadDogRevival]

You came to conclusion a guy who played 6 minutes is our best power forward?

I stopped reading after that.

I don't believe you. I think you read the whole thing.

 

[MadDogRevival]

you can lose the war and win the post-war.

But if you lose a war, you're done, so can you really lose a war and then win a war? I mean, without a lot of time going by? Maybe "lose the big battle but still win the war." I mean, if we're talking metaphors here.

 

[MadDogRevival]

Williams doesn't belong anywhere near the court in a real game

Not beating on the kid, because I love all of our Huskies, but I had 5 people in another thread tell me in no uncertain terms that KW is "more athletic than Sticks." That alone gets the guy playing time. I mean, more athletic than Sticks?
You have to take the premise as true, of course, but . . .

 

[upstater]

Agree on Larrier he needs to be more disciplined on offense and rebound the ball more on the defensive end. But he also needs to be in the lineup if you want the best impact from your guards, teams will still worry about Larrier on the wing and being able to make a play. Not so much with Diarra if at all. But as you say, if it persists then the need may come to make changes.

Ollie wants him to shoot.

So he shoots.

Giving up on a kid like that so early is self-defeating, so I agree with you. Let's think about the kids we could have given up on in the past, and we're glad we didn't.

 

[Guapo]

Ollie wants him to shoot.

So he shoots.

Giving up on a kid like that so early is self-defeating, so I agree with you. Let's think about the kids we could have given up on in the past, and we're glad we didn't.

Also, let's consider that's played 3 real games since the 2014-2015 season.