Post Game Thoughts on Temple Game

[Calhoun's Court]

Nothing that a couple guards who can handle the ball and hit an occasional 3 couldn't fix.

We are always best when we have 2 guards that can handle the ball starting.

Somehow someway we have to get back to that.

We spent a ton of time dreaming of Diamond Stone- but we NEED guards going forward.

This year I can't come up with 2 ballhandlers who i would trust on the current roster.

Would love to see Dorsey for instance in addition to Adams come in-basically another ballhandler at the guard position.

 

[Slasher]

104 in the RPI after the Temple game. It's an uphill climb for sure.

 

[CTBasketball]

There's nothing I love more than excuses after tough losses.

Anytime you have 16 turnovers and score 2 points in overtime, YOU'RE NOT BEATING ANYONE. I don't care if Boat was there or not - 2 points in OT would not even beat the 1913 Helm's Champion Syracuse Orangemen.

 

[storrsroars]

There's nothing I love more than excuses after tough losses.

Anytime you have 16 turnovers and score 2 points in overtime, YOU'RE NOT BEATING ANYONE. I don't care if Boat was there or not - 2 points in OT would not even beat the 1913 Helm's Champion Syracuse Orangemen.

But the Helms Champion Syracuse Orangemen would've only scored in the low 30s, so there wouldn't have been an overtime.

 

[NC_Uconn_Fan]

Tell me this wasn't the typical sentiment after the smu game last year.

No doubt this team needs to win given the situation and lack of ranked teams on the remaining schedule, but I'm not going to count an Ollie coached team out. Ever.

we haven't beat anyone yet. Dayton is our best win, our conference is not good. Temple would have been a good win and we lost again. Last hear we had a signature win vs Florida. Nothing this year. Rpi is over 100 with not much chance to get into the top 50. Not giving up on the team but being realistic about our ncaa chances. Lets get better and win AAC tournament and guarantee a spot.

 

[jibsey]

Not going to focus on the team's lack of success or obvious shortcomings on New Year's Day, closing my eyes........ I'm on the parade route lifting up my grandkids to see Bazz as the team float goes by, confetti.................ahhh

 

[4in16]

I'm not predicting all wins but to eliminate them before playing smu 2x, @temple, @ Stanford, cincy 2x seems premature (I know optimistic), but those could all be top 50 wins by seasons end. Lot's of ball to be played and a lot of teams are gonna lose games teams with worse worst losses than Yale (still painful) but I mean even Lunardi has them 6-7 teams out at this point (again means nothing to committee) but it's still to early to rule them out. Boat is obviously key but steal a win in the swamp get some confidence, forget the horrible free throw performance and focus on the games in front of you, and beat temple on their home floor to end the season, optimistic yes impossible no

 

[Waquoit]

On the plus side, I thought Tower of Power did the best National Anthem since the Phantom of the Opera guy over a decade ago.

 

[gtcam]

Absolutely. Or do you think Boatright doesn't score five points the last 30 minutes?

Because that's what you'd be arguing.

I really love your positive attitude and I usually fish from the same boat - my buddies think I drink too much UConn Kool-Aid

But this year there are just too many deficiencies that some of us weren't thinking were going to show their ugly face.
Firstly, we have been fed the line that RP was the next coming of JC himself and to date, my 2000 Subaru Legacy with 300K miles has proven to be more of a race car than this Ferrari.
Second, many were counting on SC Jr to be something better than a D3 prospect who reportedly can shoot the lights out but seems to wither under the lights of D1 competition.
Third, AB has had his bright spots but does not yet possess the BBall IQ needed to be effective overall on D and his hands are still plain horrible. Sure he was limited this past summer but I expected a higher level from him.
DHam is a delight BUT he is still a freshman and is prone to freshman errors - what bothers me is that he doesn't seem to be taking corrective actions.
Omar took to long to jump into the game - I can't get into the young man's head but I really don't think he had much physically wrong with him since start of the season - I truly hope he returns to at a minimum what he showed us as a freshman.
Boat has been, in my estimation, a pure surprise and exciting, however, he is a leader and as a leader must bring his A game defensively from minute one through the end. That will play huge with the rest and hopefully stop these lethargic start to nearly every game. I believe the offense builds through the defense.
TSam needs to remember what he did last year during that magical tourney run that had many of us fall in love with the guy. He now looks like someone trying to do things he simply isn't prepared to bring to the table. You can add P Nolan into this equation also - rebounds are scarce and much needed PN.
Facey - I can't say I was expecting more but I really think if he put on a few ponds of muscle and found a bit of a mean streak - he could be a really good player - he needs to touch the ball more
This team has a very shallow bench and even though most UConn teams have never been a bench oriented team - I feel this year could have that need.

Boat isn't Bazz but can hold his own. DHam has a lot of DD in him but I really think overall DHan is/will be better. What this team needs is a Neils G. We don't have, at this time, that guy who can shoot, pass, rebound and give 100%.

 

[Gurleyman]

I really love your positive attitude and I usually fish from the same boat - my buddies think I drink too much UConn Kool-Aid But this year there are just too many deficiencies that some of us weren't thinking were going to show their ugly face. Firstly, we have been fed the line that RP was the next coming of JC himself and to date, my 2000 Subaru Legacy with 300K miles has proven to be more of a race car than this Ferrari. Second, many were counting on SC Jr to be something better than a D3 prospect who reportedly can shoot the lights out but seems to wither under the lights of D1 competition. Third, AB has had his bright spots but does not yet possess the BBall IQ needed to be effective overall on D and his hands are still plain horrible. Sure he was limited this past summer but I expected a higher level from him. DHam is a delight BUT he is still a freshman and is prone to freshman errors - what bothers me is that he doesn't seem to be taking corrective actions. Omar took to long to jump into the game - I can't get into the young man's head but I really don't think he had much physically wrong with him since start of the season - I truly hope he returns to at a minimum what he showed us as a freshman. Boat has been, in my estimation, a pure surprise and exciting, however, he is a leader and as a leader must bring his A game defensively from minute one through the end. That will play huge with the rest and hopefully stop these lethargic start to nearly every game. I believe the offense builds through the defense. TSam needs to remember what he did last year during that magical tourney run that had many of us fall in love with the guy. He now looks like someone trying to do things he simply isn't prepared to bring to the table. You can add P Nolan into this equation also - rebounds are scarce and much needed PN. Facey - I can't say I was expecting more but I really think if he put on a few ponds of muscle and found a bit of a mean streak - he could be a really good player - he needs to touch the ball more This team has a very shallow bench and even though most UConn teams have never been a bench oriented team - I feel this year could have that need. Boat isn't Bazz but can hold his own. DHam has a lot of DD in him but I really think overall DHan is/will be better. What this team needs is a Neils G. We don't have, at this time, that guy who can shoot, pass, rebound and give 100%.

A couple minor quibbles amongst your fair points. I think Brimah is about as good as could be reasonably expected offensively after what we saw of him last year. He makes some post shots now - jump hooks with both hands, etc. and can hit face up jumpers. He's been pretty good at the line, too. All of these are pretty big steps forward. He's tripled his scoring average (although the Coppin State outlier inflates that), and he's at least an option on the low block - last year, he never got post feeds at all. But I do think we could have expected a better rebounder at this point - something in the 6-7 range and not 4 - and a little better discipline with fouls.

Hamilton has been up and down, but he has made a few corrections early on. He doesn't leave his feet to pass any more like he did numerous times against WV, and he doesn't go to the spin move in the lane when D is collapsing - that move was effective for him early until it was scouted, and then he started losing the ball when he couldn't see the help as he was spinning. Early in the year, he had some really lazy passes on the perimeter with no zip on them that were stolen, and I haven't seen those in a while. He's still not great at reading the help defense reaching, but as he builds experience, I think he'll get a better sense for that and protect the ball, but you're right that he's repeatedly had the ball stripped by help defenders and he needs to get better at it. His turnover count was high yesterday, but I can live with a couple of them - particularly the one he had pushing the ball in overtime after his defensive rebound, which was mostly unlucky - if he got through that one last seam like he almost did before a desperate Temple reach, we'd have gotten something good in transition. I want him to push the ball there - he's been very effective all year pushing on his own rebounds and we weren't getting anything in the halfcourt. He also got one trying to throw an inbounds pass to Brimah, but he was out of options and we were low on timeouts. I'd rather have the 5 count than a live ball turnover, but easy to say from my couch.

With Boat, several folks are calling for him to play at maximum intensity from the tip every time, but the tradeoff is that there's a certain game management responsibility that someone of his importance has, now that Bazz isn't around. You can't go balls to the wall for 40 minutes at both ends and have enough in the tank for plays in winning time. Yes he's incredibly fit, but you can look at Ricky's title game performance in 1999 (who was incredibly fit himself) - he was balls to the wall at both ends in the first half and was flat out exhausted in the final minute of the half. Missed a front end while gasping for air and gave up seven points to Langdon on two possessions by being slow on close outs. And that was 20 hard minutes, not 40. Second half he reverted back to his stopper role and took it easy on offense and had enough left to make the plays on D in winning time. There's a reason Jordan facilitated all the time in the first quarter, and that Kobe didn't want to waste energy chasing Ray around on defense or that LeBron would often switch onto the toughest defensive assignment at the end when it was needed. They understood game management. You also don't want to come out too aggressive until you get a sense for how the game is going to be called. A stupid hand check foul or bumping the cutter foul early, and you have to rachet down the intensity on someone else's terms, instead of turning it up on your terms when you sense your team needs a lift. If you're Terrence Samuel - you give your max on D every minute you're out there - or if you're Boat last year and know that Bazz will handle a lot of the late game management, you can afford to push yourself past the fatigue point. I'm not saying allow easy blow bys or be lazy, which he's done a couple times and is a fair point, but 94 feet of intense defensive pressure on every dribble from the tip isn't a good strategy for your most important offensive weapon, if you need him to make the plays at the end.

 

[gtcam]

A couple minor quibbles amongst your fair points. I think Brimah is about as good as could be reasonably expected offensively after what we saw of him last year. He makes some post shots now - jump hooks with both hands, etc. and can hit face up jumpers. He's been pretty good at the line, too. All of these are pretty big steps forward. He's tripled his scoring average (although the Coppin State outlier inflates that), and he's at least an option on the low block - last year, he never got post feeds at all. But I do think we could have expected a better rebounder at this point - something in the 6-7 range and not 4 - and a little better discipline with fouls.

Hamilton has been up and down, but he has made a few corrections early on. He doesn't leave his feet to pass any more like he did numerous times against WV, and he doesn't go to the spin move in the lane when D is collapsing - that move was effective for him early until it was scouted, and then he started losing the ball when he couldn't see the help as he was spinning. Early in the year, he had some really lazy passes on the perimeter with no zip on them that were stolen, and I haven't seen those in a while. He's still not great at reading the help defense reaching, but as he builds experience, I think he'll get a better sense for that and protect the ball, but you're right that he's repeatedly had the ball stripped by help defenders and he needs to get better at it. His turnover count was high yesterday, but I can live with a couple of them - particularly the one he had pushing the ball in overtime after his defensive rebound, which was mostly unlucky - if he got through that one last seam like he almost did before a desperate Temple reach, we'd have gotten something good in transition. I want him to push the ball there - he's been very effective all year pushing on his own rebounds and we weren't getting anything in the halfcourt. He also got one trying to throw an inbounds pass to Brimah, but he was out of options and we were low on timeouts. I'd rather have the 5 count than a live ball turnover, but easy to say from my couch.

With Boat, several folks are calling for him to play at maximum intensity from the tip every time, but the tradeoff is that there's a certain game management responsibility that someone of his importance has, now that Bazz isn't around. You can't go balls to the wall for 40 minutes at both ends and have enough in the tank for plays in winning time. Yes he's incredibly fit, but you can look at Ricky's title game performance in 1999 (who was incredibly fit himself) - he was balls to the wall at both ends in the first half and was flat out exhausted in the final minute of the half. Missed a front end while gasping for air and gave up seven points to Langdon on two possessions by being slow on close outs. And that was 20 hard minutes, not 40. Second half he reverted back to his stopper role and took it easy on offense and had enough left to make the plays on D in winning time. There's a reason Jordan facilitated all the time in the first quarter, and that Kobe didn't want to waste energy chasing Ray around on defense or that LeBron would often switch onto the toughest defensive assignment at the end when it was needed. They understood game management. You also don't want to come out too aggressive until you get a sense for how the game is going to be called. A stupid hand check foul or bumping the cutter foul early, and you have to rachet down the intensity on someone else's terms, instead of turning it up on your terms when you sense your team needs a lift. If you're Terrence Samuel - you give your max on D every minute you're out there - or if you're Boat last year and know that Bazz will handle a lot of the late game management, you can afford to push yourself past the fatigue point. I'm not saying allow easy blow bys or be lazy, which he's done a couple times and is a fair point, but 94 feet of intense defensive pressure on every dribble from the tip isn't a good strategy for your most important offensive weapon, if you need him to make the plays at the end.

That's fair Gurley
DHam still does that damn up and down upper body fake everytime he touches the ball and in many cases he doesn't need to do it to create space. A lot of instances he should take a quick step and try to get by the defender - suppose that also will come with time. I've seen a lot of players who come out of high school reverting to that up and down fake.
Boat - I am just looking for him to start the game with defensive intensity instead of turning it on when UConn starts trying to dig out of a hole, I have seen that when Boat clamps on D, the rest intensify. Maybe they won't be nearly always playing from behind

Great points Gurley

 

[Gurleyman]

That's fair Gurley DHam still does that damn up and down upper body fake everytime he touches the ball and in many cases he doesn't need to do it to create space. A lot of instances he should take a quick step and try to get by the defender - suppose that also will come with time. I've seen a lot of players who come out of high school reverting to that up and down fake. Boat - I am just looking for him to start the game with defensive intensity instead of turning it on when UConn starts trying to dig out of a hole, I have seen that when Boat clamps on D, the rest intensify. Maybe they won't be nearly always playing from behind Great points Gurley

There's a balance with Boat - I do think it's a fair point that he can maybe do more to set the tone early, just maybe really getting after it the first four minutes without reaching or bumping so that people behind him react to his intensity and fall in line. Then maybe manage the game from there after we throw the first punch. We (and he) came out guns blazing against Columbia when we were trying to set a tone and got up 10-0, then we gave up a couple threes and it was gone in a blink. Defensively yesterday was pretty good early (they only had 10 points in the first 10 minutes, but we only had 9 so we didn't take advantage).

Yeah - DHam does tend to remember his last miss and then default to a slow up fake that isn't all that productive. He tends to be more of a deliberate driver relying on changes of direction than a guy who puts his head down and goes. On the good side, he stays under control, but it makes him more vulnerable to a reach in from a help defender when he's that deliberate.

 

[NEforceUConn]

I'm waiting for Facey to develop into a David Wingate type force, thus making UConn a tourney team. Not that long of a shot.

 

[imno1]

I really love your positive attitude and I usually fish from the same boat - my buddies think I drink too much UConn Kool-Aid

But this year there are just too many deficiencies that some of us weren't thinking were going to show their ugly face.
Firstly, we have been fed the line that RP was the next coming of JC himself and to date, my 2000 Subaru Legacy with 300K miles has proven to be more of a race car than this Ferrari.
Second, many were counting on SC Jr to be something better than a D3 prospect who reportedly can shoot the lights out but seems to wither under the lights of D1 competition.
Third, AB has had his bright spots but does not yet possess the BBall IQ needed to be effective overall on D and his hands are still plain horrible. Sure he was limited this past summer but I expected a higher level from him.
DHam is a delight BUT he is still a freshman and is prone to freshman errors - what bothers me is that he doesn't seem to be taking corrective actions.
Omar took to long to jump into the game - I can't get into the young man's head but I really don't think he had much physically wrong with him since start of the season - I truly hope he returns to at a minimum what he showed us as a freshman.
Boat has been, in my estimation, a pure surprise and exciting, however, he is a leader and as a leader must bring his A game defensively from minute one through the end. That will play huge with the rest and hopefully stop these lethargic start to nearly every game. I believe the offense builds through the defense.
TSam needs to remember what he did last year during that magical tourney run that had many of us fall in love with the guy. He now looks like someone trying to do things he simply isn't prepared to bring to the table. You can add P Nolan into this equation also - rebounds are scarce and much needed PN.
Facey - I can't say I was expecting more but I really think if he put on a few ponds of muscle and found a bit of a mean streak - he could be a really good player - he needs to touch the ball more
This team has a very shallow bench and even though most UConn teams have never been a bench oriented team - I feel this year could have that need.

Boat isn't Bazz but can hold his own. DHam has a lot of DD in him but I really think overall DHan is/will be better. What this team needs is a Neils G. We don't have, at this time, that guy who can shoot, pass, rebound and give 100%.

I guess for someone as tough as you a bad knee sprain is just a little boo-boo. Omar's a tough kid who's heart is with this program.

 

[mauconnfan]

I'm waiting for Facey to develop into a David Wingate type force, thus making UConn a tourney team. Not that long of a shot.

Like the comparison, good call. Although I would like him at 6'9 to be more Reggie Williams, and how knows?

 

[gtcam]

I guess for someone as tough as you a bad knee sprain is just a little boo-boo. Omar's a tough kid who's heart is with this program.

yep, I'm a tough guy
If you read my submissions you will see I've been very supportive of Omar
KO himself said Omar was physically ready to play right after exhibition games ended so he must be a tough guy too