Reality Check

[mauconnfan]

Lots of things in this young season to look at - both positive and a little concerning......but it's early!

Positives:
Shabazz can be the PG we need to run this team as he has shown.
Jeremy can be a very good scorer and a go-to guy offensively.
Andre and DeAndre both show signs of being studs although it will take time and hard work.

Concerns:
#1 is easy - there are only a few positives which you can take from the first few games.
Chemistry - always tough to guage with a young team who lost their leader but it is a concern.
Defense - No signs of lockdown D except Roscoe on occasion - Jeremy and Bazz both look less in tune on defense thus far - JL looks awful guarding noone at this point. Help defense is possibly worst as Alex looked idiotic the time his back was to the guard and the ball was rolling in his head. Have to know where people are and need to react quicker and Andre is way behind in that department with a lot to learn on that end for sure.
Rebounding - Alex showed signs yesterday but the rest are pure jumpers looking to rebound. No toughness boxing out, even Tyler yesterday got caught and he should be boxing out ALL the time. Bazz rebounding well from the guard slot while Jeremy is not the same guy helping on the boards.
Passion/Intensity - Jeremy? For now thinking one-on-one offensive basketball - needs to get his head into the game on both ends. AO showed signs but needs to be tough all the time. Andre needs to toughen up and not be as "nice" out there especially on the boards.

I think they're going to be good and getting Boatright will help. But they need to toughen up and play with more fire. Each and every game they mount these big leads and let everyone back in. They try to get "pretty" instead of hammering the nail down. I'm sure JC will get a positive reaction out of them after this loss but if he doesn't vs Fla ST then you can add that to the "concerns."

Interesting game today in many ways!!! If there's FIRE then all will be well - if it's just another game could be a long year........time to make kids "Huskies."

 

[upstater]

Agree with all of this. Fundamentals on D and effort are not there. Kudos to Olander and Roscoe for effort. Drummond too, though he seems a bit lost on D.

 

[geordi]

Plus there is another issue in terms of reality. Ya gotta admit last year was somewhat of a fluke. Blew through the OOC schedule, got hammered in the BE, then just got hot. The team with the hot goalie wins the Stanley Cup, we got the hot point guard. We just really weren't that good...probably the worst national championship team in decades. That starts everyone thinking that we are better than we are. Then, coming off an NC, even the payers get caught up in how 'good' we are. Yesterday, halfway through the second half, they stopped doing the things that got them the 17 point lead. Stopped running the offense and started taking bad, even scared shots. They gotta learn.

As I look at this team, I see tremendous potential. But it's still potential. It's young, it's learning, it has probably all the parts and it can make a deep run in the tournament. But, at least right now, it's not a top 5 team and likely not a top 10 team. Will we get there? Maybe. But the chemistry has to start. If they all stay together and learn, they can win it all, but look to next year as a top 5 year in reality.

 

[jibsey]

I know it's been said over and over but we are young, very young but talented and Calhoun is going to take time to forge a finished product. There will be some pain and suffering. Even with a loss today there would be no reason to panic, and just integrating Boatright will even take a while. Kemba's toughness is tough to replace. Let's not worry about the number next to our name even though it's the focus of all the media.

 

[mauconnfan]

Plus there is another issue in terms of reality. Ya gotta admit last year was somewhat of a fluke. Blew through the OOC schedule, got hammered in the BE, then just got hot. The team with the hot goalie wins the Stanley Cup, we got the hot point guard. We just really weren't that good...probably the worst national championship team in decades. That starts everyone thinking that we are better than we are. Then, coming off an NC, even the payers get caught up in how 'good' we are. Yesterday, halfway through the second half, they stopped doing the things that got them the 17 point lead. Stopped running the offense and started taking bad, even scared shots. They gotta learn.

As I look at this team, I see tremendous potential. But it's still potential. It's young, it's learning, it has probably all the parts and it can make a deep run in the tournament. But, at least right now, it's not a top 5 team and likely not a top 10 team. Will we get there? Maybe. But the chemistry has to start. If they all stay together and learn, they can win it all, but look to next year as a top 5 year in reality.

Good post and agree with most. I will say I disagree with the "worst NC tean in decades." There were many better and I agree there was luck involved because they were the "hot goalie" type team. But you cannot disregard the defense this "team" played during their run. Lockdown, swarming whatever you want to call it they drove many many good offensive teams nuts and there's no doubt about that!

Havings said that this team needed some of "that" yesterday with 10 left because that's what wins games when you can't make shots!!

 

[Huskybass]

I strongly believe that this team would benefit from a faster tempo. Get up and down the floor and blow other teams out of the gym. Bazz, Lamb, Boat, DD, RS, AD, TO ... they can all run the floor real well. Get the games well into the 70's or 80's and this team will be a joy to watch.

 

[prankster]

I would like to remind everyone of a few points:

First -

Brendan Allen - Fr
Andre Drummond - Fr
DeAndre Daniels - Fr
Niles Giffey - So
Roscoe Smith - So
Tyler Olander - So
Shabazz Napier - So
Jeremy Lamb - So
Alex Oriaki - Jr
(Ryan Boatright - Fr)

Second -

Our ball handlers have, so far, failed to figure out how to pass the ball to beat a zone. Since no one can figure out how to match us man-to-man, we will see a lot of zone. One of the big positives we got, last year, came kind of later in the season when we finally figured out how to make those entry passes. Calhoun has always (well....almost always) figured out how to beat Syracuse. And I am confident that he will, again, this year.

Third -

I will be very interested to see what happens when we can finally run a 3-guard offense, today

Finally -

The twitter world seems positively alive with tweets about how everyone on the team has the flu. If this is how we play when everyone is operating at around 60%.....I think we will be OK by March.

 

[upstater]

Plus there is another issue in terms of reality. Ya gotta admit last year was somewhat of a fluke. Blew through the OOC schedule, got hammered in the BE, then just got hot. The team with the hot goalie wins the Stanley Cup, we got the hot point guard. We just really weren't that good...probably the worst national championship team in decades. That starts everyone thinking that we are better than we are. Then, coming off an NC, even the payers get caught up in how 'good' we are. Yesterday, halfway through the second half, they stopped doing the things that got them the 17 point lead. Stopped running the offense and started taking bad, even scared shots. They gotta learn.

Based on what? Losses? I see that same team from last year beating 4 of the last 10 national champs, 2010 Duke, Kansas, Maryland, Syracuse.

Talk about last year's BE regular season is going over old ground. We've talked about it over and over again. There's a reason UConn was undefeated against one of the most brutal OOC schedules we've ever had. It's because of the way the game is called outside the BE. During the BE regular season, Kemba was getting hammered, and his shooting, etc., were all very far down from OOC. That is not a fluke. UConn wasn't built last year to run through the BE regular season. It was built to win the national championship.

Look at the defensive performances. How is it a fluke that teams like Kentucky, Arizona, SD St and Butler run into UConn and shoot 30%? Arizona was lights out the game before against Duke, and then they have a blackout? Fluke? Not buying it.

Plus, the emphasis on 18 games of BE play seems to deliberately disregard the 24 games played outside BE play.

 

[upstater]

Our ball handlers have, so far, failed to figure out how to pass the ball to beat a zone. Since no one can figure out how to match us man-to-man, we will see a lot of zone. One of the big positives we got, last year, came kind of later in the season when we finally figured out how to make those entry passes. Calhoun has always (well....almost always) figured out how to beat Syracuse. And I am confident that he will, again, this year.

The shocking thing was how far out they extended the zone.

It was mind-boggling to see that.

UConn has the ball-handling, out-side shooting, big men who can shoot from the foul line.

 

[uconnfan68]

We just really weren't that good...probably the worst national championship team in decades.

Go back to Duke.