Pulling Adama

[bigknight3]

Yeah. I think he just felt like he could physically dominate 2 players and still score. His passing was much better the first two games. Off game last night

I like that he did it instinctively the first game, so I knew they had been working on it.

Now every time he ignores the double and triple teams and puts bad tape off bad shots while trying to muscle through defenders with wide open shooters on the wing, Hurley can use these moments to continue to coach thus bad tendency out of Sanogo

 

[BuffaloHusky]

Buffalo had some really good length which was not only affecting Adama but was also another reason that so many passes to him were flying out of bounds or off target. I don't think it was a coincidence that after a stretch where it felt like 4 or 5 turnovers in a row occurred trying to get him the ball he decided he was just going to take the ball himself. As for being selfish... that's just frustration and he will learn from it.

 

[Rocktheworld]

I mean if you want to call one of our players selfish, you do you. Seems pretty disrespectful to the kid and the coaching staff to me. But it doesn't matter one way or the other if we win games.

You call not making obvious reads selfish, I say it's a skill gap. Not sure we're going to reconcile that.

Multiple distinct behaviors that constellate to resemble selfishness or me-first attitude is as far as I’ll go. Never called him a selfish person. He can start passing and shut me up whenever he wants.

 

[NYCMike]

I might be the only one who thinks he tried to miss that on purpose to get Newton his 10th board. I think that’s why Hurley was pissed.

I thought the same. Not smart, but the opposite of selfish.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I mean if you want to call one of our players selfish, you do you. Seems pretty disrespectful to the kid and the coaching staff to me. But it doesn't matter one way or the other if we win games.

You call not making obvious reads selfish, I say it's a skill gap. Not sure we're going to reconcile that.

Selfish doesn't at all seem to be who Adama is. I thought I remembered him making some good kick outs in the first 2 games but game 3 showed his fatal flaw again. He's usually too dominant to take off the court but if he goes into black hole mode where he's going 1 on 3 and shooting as he's falling over instead of kicking it out, he has to sit. As Hurley said after the game, with Adama and Donovan we have one of the few best big man duos in the country and are reminiscent of Purdue.

I certainly don't think he's selfish. What I think I saw, early in the game (and in games last year) was a scripted offense. Hurley saying get the ball to Adama, and Adama will shoot. When the defense takes that away with doubles or pushes him out, the guards keep making those entry passes (several were terrible) and Adama keeps taking those shots. I think they're doing it because that's the game plan. It always seems to be worse at the start of either half.

Can the team do better? Yes, but I think we're hurt by the absences in that regard. We're more reliant on Sanogo without the other guys. The hope was we'd have so much firepower that they couldn't double him. Well, they doubled him and we missed the shots, so they kept doing it.

 

[REB1094]

The hope was we'd have so much firepower that they couldn't double him. Well, they doubled him and we missed the shots, so they kept doing it.

This is a very important point. The entire base of our offense is forcing teams to guard Sanogo 1v1, or rain threes if they send extra defenders.

If teams are playing him 2v1 and nobody is making the threes, we’re the exact same team as last year and the offense will subsequently look exactly like last year.

Only difference would be that we have Hawkins and Newton throwing together last second iso after the offense breaks down instead of RJ. In theory this should be better, but you’ve already put yourself at an extreme disadvantage if that’s the situation.

Make the open shots = Sanogo gets to play 1v1 = everyone wins (except our opponents).

 

[Waquoit]

I'm tellin' ya, his first two shots go in last night if he uses glass.

 

[gsmooth]

It was a message to everyone on the team that if Hurley can bench Adama for that play, he will bench any of them for that type of play.

And it was a good and necessary message to send, IMO. I love Adama, but he botched that play.

 

[gsmooth]

Yeah. Who does he think he is …….Phil Nolan?

I remember that end of the game dunk at MSG vs Mich State in the Elite Eight very well. The announcers even said something like "and Nolan's not giving this up, he is taking it himself.", LOL

 

[ElmCity40th]

I won’t just say Sanogo is a selfish player. He just did something selfish. As a fan I only can hope he sees the bigger picture because this perhaps will be the last season he plays in his career where he is the go to feature. Live and learn my guy.

 

[Scrappy3]

Everyone makes mistakes.
I’m not gonna make an issue out of one play. Next time he’ll make the pass

 

[auror]

I won’t just say Sanogo is a selfish player. He just did something selfish. As a fan I only can hope he sees the bigger picture because this perhaps will be the last season he plays in his career where he is the go to feature. Live and learn my guy.

Like I'm not going to pretend I wouldn't have gone wild as a fan if he went coast to coast for a slam, despite it not being the right play. I know that. He knows that. He knows what the fans want.

But if you're going to do that, you gotta actually do it. He assumes the risk of that selfishness. In a big game, that risk is more important, and he should pass.

 

[imno1]

if I were Coach I woulda just said “you do that again you better duckkn make it”

 

[Brandon86]

So, I’m trying to understand the complaint here. A guy has the ball, past mid court, with no defenders between him and the basket, and one teammate maybe 4 feet ahead of him, and…he should pass? Why? That’s a higher risk play. We aren’t talking about a guy under the basket looking back for the pass. Nor a 2 on 1 where you pass to ensure a clean look.

He blew the dunk, but dunking wasn’t a bad decision. His lazy execution was the problem.

If somebody is in front of you, you always throw it ahead. Honestly that’s not even debatable in basketball lol.

 

[CbbisGreat]

Adama was forcing a lot tonight. Was doubled with Karaban/calcaterra wide open screaming for the ball on the perimeter and still forced bad shots.

it crossed my mind that maybe Adama missed on purpose, thinking that newton would get the rebound and his triple double .not saying thats what happened but it occurred to me during the play

 

[August_West]

This is a very important point. The entire base of our offense is forcing teams to guard Sanogo 1v1, or rain threes if they send extra defenders.

If teams are playing him 2v1 and nobody is making the threes, we’re the exact same team as last year and the offense will subsequently look exactly like last year.

Only difference would be that we have Hawkins and Newton throwing together last second iso after the offense breaks down instead of RJ. In theory this should be better, but you’ve already put yourself at an extreme disadvantage if that’s the situation.

Make the open shots = Sanogo gets to play 1v1 = everyone wins (except our opponents).

He’s always going to be doubled. If the ball stalls he will be doubled every time every game all year. He will see triples this year. Hell , he saw them last year. He has to either be quick off initial receipt or kick and repost for a more favorable position. You will be able to count on 1 hand this season the times Adama has the ball for 2 seconds down low and isn’t doubled. He will eat people alive one on one. No opposing coach will let that happen.

He’s not selfish. That ( passing) isn’t an instinctual part of his game. He worked hard to play an elite post game he’s worked hard on outside shooting I’m sure he has worked hard on reads and passing. But that’s probably the toughest to learn/ be taught.

 

[MDHuskFan]

Did he make some bad reads & bad decisions. Yes.

That being said, I don’t think that calling him a selfish player is fair. I’ll trust staff to indicate what kind of person & teammate he is. I doubt they would reward someone with captaincy if they were selfish

 

[Mr. French]

I don’t think he’s inherently selfish or even a “ball hog” I think he just sometimes gets tunnel vision.

The other aspect is, as @husky429 says, he’s not a great passer/recognizer yet. That can and will develop.

Not concerned. Just patiently waiting for it all to click.

 

[husky429]

I’m sure he has worked hard on reads and passing. But that’s probably the toughest to learn/ be taught.

Absolutely. You can put in as many hours as you want with a teammate, coach or on your own to develop shooting or post moves. Learning passing out of double-teams to shooters is really something you can only learn playing 5v5. You just get wayyyy less time practicing the skill.

 

[Deleted at users request]

Selfish doesn't at all seem to be who Adama is. I thought I remembered him making some good kick outs in the first 2 games but game 3 showed his fatal flaw again. He's usually too dominant to take off the court but if he goes into black hole mode where he's going 1 on 3 and shooting as he's falling over instead of kicking it out, he has to sit. As Hurley said after the game, with Adama and Donovan we have one of the few best big man duos in the country and are reminiscent of Purdue.

That’s the crazy thing is he seemed to figure out how to find the open guy in the first 2 games. No idea what happened in this game as he was sometimes taking on triple teams and then yeah, that fast break situation. With the shooters on this team it’s imperative he knows how to get them the ball when the defense collapses on him.

This isn’t last year. He’ll get so many east looks just by having proper positioning because guys are going to find him. He just needs to look for them back.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Pulling Adama reminds me of a great Letterman top 10 of yo-yo tricks.

 

[REB1094]

He’s always going to be doubled. If the ball stalls he will be doubled every time every game all year. He will see triples this year. Hell , he saw them last year. He has to either be quick off initial receipt or kick and repost for a more favorable position. You will be able to count on 1 hand this season the times Adama has the ball for 2 seconds down low and isn’t doubled. He will eat people alive one on one. No opposing coach will let that happen.

He’s not selfish. That ( passing) isn’t an instinctual part of his game. He worked hard to play an elite post game he’s worked hard on outside shooting I’m sure he has worked hard on reads and passing. But that’s probably the toughest to learn/ be taught.

Sending help immediately would be the smart coaching decision. When you miss 11 of your first 12 three pointers, that decision becomes much easier to make.

If the shots go down, which they should given our revamped team, I think coaches will need to think twice before leaving guys open to double Sanogo. This team is designed as a pick-your-poison team but last night we only had 1 poison to give. Can't imagine that it'll be that way for long.

 

[REB1094]

Happens to the best of us

 

[Viet Vet]

I have watched this several times on DVR. Adam gained possessed of the ball at the "X" of "XL' in UConn's backcourt. Not 35 or 45 feet from our hoop; closer to 55-60'. The court is 94' long, thus mid-court is at 47'. It was a bad decision not to pass to his teammate. Whether or not it was selfish, I'll defer to Adam.

But Hurley was right to bench him. That kind of indiscipline cannot be condoned.

 

[Viet Vet]

sorry; possession

 

[80shusky]

Thread title sounds like a cheesy adult movie. If he had tried to pass it and muffed the pass there would be a 10 page thread on here with people saying Dunk That #(&*(^! Anyway Hurley sent a message that you reward your teammate who is up the court from you with the pass because he has the best chance of getting the bucket.

 

[auror]

One thing I noticed on rewatch. In the huddle, Hurley is pissed. He has a finger out and stops Adama. I couldn't quite read his lips, but I think he said stop a couple of times. Then Andre starts talking to Adama. And a few seconds later it seems like Adama says something and the end of bench guys start clapping in the huddle. Street clothes captain putting in work.

 

[mauconnfan]

Deserved to be benched good call by Dan. He handled it too long once in the first half as well making sure to dribble it 4-5 times after a rebound before giving it up to open guards ahead, slowed any chance for a break.

But if you really think about it, he’s still a very bad passer so maybe it’s not an awful move after all lol

 

[Umami Zen]

IMO..Adama is a smart guy that has occasional BBIQ lapses due to lack of experience in the game--Newness to it.
Teammates and coaches all have a way of voicing their concerns--In huddles. .On the bench.. After games.. If he's as smart as I think he is. Won't happen again.

Sharing the ball with your teammates is BB 101.

 

[Waquoit]

In the modern game, you leave guys in games if they haven't hit their numbers. It follows that having a player in the game solely add to his point total might affect team play.