Providence Post Game Thread

[superjohn]

I think the admission is that he can’t be the only ball handler and be expected to bring the ball up, act as a distributor, and run offense. That’s not his skill set. But neither is he a catch and shoot 2 like Ball or Hawkins who is comfortable running off of screens to get open shots. He’s an attacking score first guard. Neither a natural 1 nor a natural 2.

The staff has managed in the past to figure out how to craft the offense to fit the skills of the guys on the roster (see Jackson, Andre). They’re figuring it out here.

Mahaney is a 2, he's wired to score. Being a catch and shoot guy doesn't make you a natural 2 anymore than a guy who is wired to score by creating his own offense and catching and shooting. Mahaney is not a point guard. Hurley admitted he screwed up the beginning of the season with the point guard position by trying to fit a square peg (Mahaney) into a round hole instead of going with the natural point guard (Diarra.)

 

[HooperScooper]

The ball and both feet have to be completely over for it to be an over and back violation. It was a bad call that ignored the rules of basketball.

I'm confused. The ball and both feet went into the front court and then he stepped back and part of his foot was on the half court line. I thought that is a back court violation. I'd like to see the replay to see what happened and someone explain why it wasn't a back court violation.

 

[HooperScooper]

That his back foot never crossed half court, so it can't be a back court violation

I thought it did. Would like to see the replay. It was with 4:52 left in the 2nd half once we have the replay of the game.

 

[navery12]

I thought it did. Would like to see the replay.

I'll see if I can find a tweet with the video, can't share video from the recorded game on Hulu. But he never fully crossed into the frontcourt, I just rewatched it

 

[AntG168]

They showed the replay and Mahaney was in the front court and then his foot clearly went backwards and was on the half court line. Isn't that the rule? What am I missing?

Now go back and see how often that happens at every level ,every game. And ask yourself why a ref would choose to call it there. These refs are grand standers and love to be apart of the story

 

[superjohn]

I'll see if I can find a tweet with the video, can't share video from the recorded game on Hulu. But he never fully crossed into the frontcourt, I just rewatched it

That's the way I saw it live and on replay.

Did u get a chance to see if Reed actually touched the baseline on the out of bounds when Solo saved it? It was close but I didn't think he touched it, only saw it once though. There was that crazy one the other game where Samson saved it and was 18 inches from the baseline and they whistled him for being out of bounds.

 

[storrsroars]

Reed was the deciding factor today. Providence spent all day shooting from inside the paint and he shut that down second half.

I love the fire Reed brought in 2nd half. But to say UConn shut down the inside...

Here's how Providence scored, by half:
FTs: 2/18
3s: 9/3
Jump: 8/4
Dunk: 6/0
Layup: 12/14
Tip-In: 0/6
Other: 2/0 (no description in game log, goaltending?)

So basically, in the paint, Providence had one extra layup in 2nd half and replaced the 3 dunks in 1st with 3 putbacks in 2nd. And drew a ton more fouls, most of which were during rebounds. We did play a more physical defense in 2nd, but they still got inside for buckets.

 

[navery12]

I thought it did. Would like to see the replay. It was with 4:52 left in the 2nd half once we have the replay of the game.

I'll see if I can find a tweet with the video, can't share video from the recorded game on Hulu. But he never fully crossed into the frontcourt, I just rewatched it

Replay is at 11:19 of this video

 

[giddyup]

What is there to learn? Just don't get smoked at the point of attack, and then your help will do the rest. Unfortunately, UConn gets smoked at the point of attack, a lot.

UConn is roughly halfway through its season, and is currently 134 in KenPom's adjusted defensive rating. And the eye test is even worse. English runs a fairly vanilla scheme, and UConn gave up 84 points on 50% shooting to a Providence squad that is missing 2 starters, including its best player. This has to be the worst UConn defense, by far, since the beginning of the Calhoun era.

I am baffled at why UConn is so terrible defensively. This team is fairly athletic, and is skilled offensively so they know what they are doing on some level. I can't figure it out.

Our guards other than Diarra are foot slow and can’t keep people in front of them. It’s not for a lack of trying. It’s a physical limitation.

 

[HooperScooper]

Replay is at 11:19 of this video

Thanks. You may be right. His right foot was still on the line and not completely in the front court. It was close.

 

[navery12]

That's the way I saw it live and on replay.

Did u get a chance to see if Reed actually touched the baseline on the out of bounds when Solo saved it? It was close but I didn't think he touched it, only saw it once though. There was that crazy one the other game where Samson saved it and was 18 inches from the baseline and they whistled him for being out of bounds.

I watched the replay, the camera angle wasn't great but I thought the ball did bounce on the baseline before he grabbed it. But it was really close. They cut it just short in the highlight video above

 

[Hunt for 7]

Who cares?

Everyone who sits on the selection committee. We can start there. Or how about Hurley saying in his presser that this would have been a horrible quad 3 loss, not a horrible loss. Also, I know quad wins or loses are more related to the NET rankings.

When we stunk how many KenPom references did Hurley use to describe how much we need to improve.

But I am ok with thinking the selection committee is corrupt and just uses their conference bias to make their picks.

However that did sit well with the BY OG’s when I made that comment.

Who cares…..I guess it’s more about who mentioned it than really anything else as there seems to be a bunch of fans that have opinions.

But hey it’s only numbers let’s not get lost in the fact that the last two years we have been KenPom darlings and that translated to post season dominance. That fact in itself should be enough to care somewhat.

 

[Deepster]

PC only had 5 assists on 30 made baskets. They're not going anywhere with that type of offense. Nothing but one on one garbage. No semblance of an offensive structure in the half court at all.

 

[superjohn]

Or how about Hurley saying in his presser that this would have been a horrible quad 3 loss, not a horrible loss.

We won.

 

[ucp990411]

I think you two are stating the rule correctly, just worded different.

Ball and player have to be fully in forecourt to make an over-and-back call possible. I saw a ref stop a high-school game and quickly demonstrate the rule to a complaining coach, who had it wrong. (Ref did it quickly, with a smile... Coach got it, wasn't mad, and apologized for the yelling... One of the best ref/coach exchanges I've ever seen in THOUSANDS of in-person games over the years.)

The key here is, was Aidan's right heel still touching the halfcourt line before he stepped back? VERY close call. If his heel wasn't touching the line before he moved it back, then it was over and back, the bad guys' ball. If it was still touching (again, very close, would take a super-hi-def replay to see that), then he was fine to step back and no call should have been made.

Of course, in the NBA, this would have been an eight-minute break while the refs went to the table and studied the replay from 405 slightly-differing angles.

I will check the replay

 

[dalydosehoops]

Not a bad game for my first Gampel trip: UConn overcomes McNeeley’s absence, 14-point hole with three-headed monster to top Providence

 

[djct1999]

Our best lineup without McNeeley is the one that led the great run back. Because of lack at depth, particularly at pg, it may be hard to do for long lengths of time, but our starting five should be Reed, Karaban, Ball, Maheney, Diarra.

 

[RuffRuff]

We are 4-0 in close games against teams currently 2-14 in league play. Next 3 against teams that are 8-3. The real games start this week. Danny is going to have to figure out a better configuration than he rolled out there today.

 

[ucp990411]

Can someone on the staff please inform Hass that he can pass the ball on the inbounds. He had Alex wide open right after he got the ball numerous times but held the ball waiting for the double to come and hoping to get the foul.

I understand wanting the ball in your hands at the end but still gotta be smart you have an excellent group of FT shooters out there with you and keeping the clock running is better than waiting for a foul call that might not come.

The trouble in inbounding the ball is a little concerning as well. Gotta work on that won’t always have TOs.

I used to tell my players the one closest to the ball, grab the ball and immediately pass the ball in. It works.

 

[Scottobot]

Stewie is playable in short bursts. I don't know what DH does with Ross at this point other than use him for D only in last minute of a close

Stewie is playable in short bursts. I don't know what DH does with Ross at this point other than use him for D only in last minute of a close game.

I think both should keep getting minutes, even though they haven’t played well, until one of them steps up and plays so well Hurley wants to keep them on the court.. or one of the freshman is ready. Also wouldn’t mind seeing a big lineup with Samson Johnson and Reed on floor together.

 

[Edward Sargent]

Team was a mess the first half, by far our worst half on the mainland. Last 13 minutes or so were beautiful and probably the best we've played all season minus the Hass brainfarts in the last minute and the trouble inbounding the ball.

Hass is the heartbeat of this team, the game turned when he started taking over and then Reed further took over and changed the game. Providence was scoring at will the whole game and we couldn't get a defensive rebound. Reed changed that and we were off to the races.

Mahaney was huge, his layup where he contorted his body wasn't a fluke, that's the type of stuff he did at Gonzaga. I feel strongly that trying to turn him into a point guard badly messed with his game and head. He's a born scorer. Huge second half from him and his buckets are just different, they lift the whole team up.

Reed is a beast and we've yet to fully unleash him on teams. He needs to get the ball more and he has more in his package than Danny has let him go to yet. NBA player.

Solo with a quiet really good game and AK made some plays when it mattered after a bad first half.

Total team win.

Thought we looked good the first half of the first half. I was on the road with no access except for ESPN Gamecast so I watched the game when I got back home. PC was throwing hero ball crap up to the backboard all night and enough of it went in to keep it close but 5 assists in a game isn't going to win you a lot of games

 

[BFieldHusky]

We are 4-0 in close games against teams currently 2-14 in league play. Next 3 against teams that are 8-3. The real games start this week. Danny is going to have to figure out a better configuration than he rolled out there today.

With Liam hurt, he has only so many options.

In looking at who they played in league so far:

Xavier (could have beaten us, almost took Marquette to OT, beat S Hall and lost a close one @ Georgetown.

@ Butler: Winless in the league. Led Marquette at halftime on the road, lost close ones at home to us and Nova, and once again led St. Johns at halftime on the road, but lost.

@ DePaul. Different team at home. We struggled a bit when Liam went down.

Providence: Beat DePaul on the road, was up big on St. Johns at home. Got destroyed against Marquette. Played us tough.

I don't see a huge difference in teams 4 through 9 this year. That includes Creighton, GTown, Nova, Xavier, Butler, Providence. Even St. Johns is somewhat limited since they cant shoot 3s. With two on the road this week, I think we will be in two more close games. Here's hoping we can continue to pull them out.

BTW, 4-0 is the best start in league play since Hurley was hired. Better than even the last 2 years.

 

[HooperScooper]

PC only had 5 assists on 30 made baskets. They're not going anywhere with that type of offense. Nothing but one on one garbage. No semblance of an offensive structure in the half court at all.

Agree. All one on one crap. One of the announcers, think it was Donny, said you're not going to beat UConn doing that.

 

[Peacefrog]

They showed the replay and Mahaney was in the front court and then his foot clearly went backwards and was on the half court line. Isn't that the rule? What am I missing?

It's interesting to me that several of us are looking at the same thing and seeing it differently. I watched the replay on DVR four times and I see his right foot still on the halfcourt line and then he retreats, never having fully established himself in the front court. I'm going to have to go back and watch again. I'm fascinated that half of us see one thing and half see something else.

 

[StllH8L8ner]

What game did you watch?

Devils advocate, the crowd did sound loud on TV, BUT when we were making the comeback in the second half and most were on their feet, there were A LOT of blue haired folks in the sections behind press row sitting on their hands. This is a college basketball game, not a knitting class…at least cheer, clap or act like you have a pulse. Other than that the crowd sounded good.