Roscoe Smith was the hero of this game

[mauconnfan]

Mauconn you commented lol. Your right Lamb was great but without all the little plays, blocks, rebounds, great defense on Pinkston, the steal at the end of the game, there is no way we win that game despite Lambs great night. That is why I said Roscoe was the hero of this game. Roscoe is a very good player who should always start and his value is indispensable. If CJ Fair and Jpseph are on the floor at the same time I would rater Scoe defend CJ Fair because he is better and more dangerous than anyone else syracuse has. Never mess with the scoe or you will be perpetually cursed lol

Roscoe "should always start" when he plays like yesterday......but whether you like it or not this is possibly the first Roscoe sighting of the year....he's been pretty bad for the most part, no signs of last years player until now. You can't play a guy who shows nothing when he gets in at UConn, you earn time. He didn't until Nova and now we all hope he's here to stay for the remainder of the year as he is obviously a key contributor, starting or coming off the bench. Having said that 40 minutes can't and won't happen vs Cuse because we're going to need to score and pass the ball vs the zone so I expect a 25-30 this weekend. He looked like he was having fun.............and that's a great thing. Even caught him smiling talking with a ref while lining up for Nova FT's late in OT.....all good!

 

[aceboon]

Roscoe needs to be committed to playing D like he did yesterday against Cuse, whether it be Joseph or Fair. The reason he didn't play as much in the earlier matchup was because he was biting on Joseph pumpfakes and he lost Fair 2x in transition for easy baskets and bit on another pumpfake for an easy basket. Loved what I saw out of him last night against Pinkston but Cuse is a different animal.

 

[Matt (Chicago)]

I actually like the idea of putting Roscoe on CJ Fair. Good call.
You might have been onto something when you said Roscoe should have been playing more minutes all along.

please do NOT encourage this guy.

 

[BrassBonanza]

I agree, Boat should be the one coming in off the bench unless Napier is not healthy. Boat has had a lot of opportunities to show that he is ready to take the leadership at the point and has not been able to do it as yet. He's a freshman and playing like it pretty often. Choked badly on 2 free throws and not getting his shot off.

Free throw shooting was terrible as a team. In overtime, Bazz missed the front end of a one and one and even Lamb who shot well, missed a front end of a one and one. It was painful to watch.

 

[huskymagic]

Roscoe is a true energy guy both on the boards and defense......throwing the ball in-bounds quite frankly is another matter.

we cant have boat inbounding the ball he doesnt look comfortable doing it and our guys dont seem to get open quick enough. I would rather have Oriakhi or Napier inbounding the ball.

 

[huskymagic]

please do NOT encourage this guy.

LOL Matt you know I dont need encouragement especially when finally Calhoun put Roscoe at his natural position as small forward for the first time all year.

 

[huskymagic]

“Roscoe was phenomenal,” Blaney said Monday night after the Huskies wrapped up a thrilling and necessary 73-70 overtime victory against Villanova at the Wells Fargo Center.

Roscoe Smith indeed came up huge for the Huskies. Starting in place of the hobbling Shabazz Napier, giving UConn a more traditional two-guard look, Smith played a career-best 40 minutes, scoring seven points, grabbing five rebounds and blocking three shots.

 

[huskymagic]

 

[huskymagic]

Best UCONN dunk of the year :

 

[Burnsbros23]

No. And why would you post a video of Roscoe Traveling.... Dumb.

 

[Palatine]

Roscoe does a lot of little things that help a team win. Knocking the ball off a Nova player and out of bounds after a missed free throw was a huge play. He didn't get points, a rebound or a steal. But it was a great play.

 

[huskymagic]

No. And why would you post a video of Roscoe Traveling.... Dumb.

Lambs dunk was nice but it was against Columbia which is why I gave Roscoe the edge because he dunked on Dieng who is actually NBA material.

 

[huskymagic]

David Borges article:


Smith, a key player last year as a freshman on UConn’s miracle national title run, has never really gotten into a groove this season as both his playing time and his role on the team have been inconsistent. During one four-game stretch early in the Big East season, Smith saw under five minutes of action three times. He’s also tried to make the transition from small forward to power forward, to varying degrees of success.

On Monday, however, with Napier limited by a lingering foot injury, Smith was back in the starting lineup as a small forward and made the most of it. Asked if it was tough transitioning back to the position, Smith smiled.

“I was brought to Connecticut to play small forward,” he said.

 

[businesslawyer]

Lambs dunk was nice but it was against Columbia which is why I gave Roscoe the edge because he dunked on Dieng who is actually NBA material.

He dunked when we were down 25 in the last few minutes. Yes, Roscoe is athletic, but talk about non-events. Unless you're shooting an "and one" video, I would think the dunk would have to be somewhat meaningful to be the best.

 

[huskymagic]

He dunked when we were down 25 in the last few minutes. Yes, Roscoe is athletic, but talk about non-events. Unless you're shooting an "and one" video, I would think the dunk would have to be somewhat meaningful to be the best.

I dont really care honestly whose dunk was better but I do care to inform everyone of this quote :

On Monday, however, with Napier limited by a lingering foot injury, Smith was back in the starting lineup as a small forward and made the most of it. Asked if it was tough transitioning back to the position, Smith smiled.

“I was brought to Connecticut to play small forward,” he said.

 

[Jaker]

Wonder if Giffey will ever play again, he must off pissed of Blaney.

 

[Burnsbros23]

hes not a SF that lineup is not the answer and if we play roscoe drummond and AO our zone offense will beyond awful. Now Roscoe will be needed but at the 4. and to guard fair/joseph

 

[businesslawyer]

I dont really care honestly whose dunk was better but I do care to inform everyone of this quote :

On Monday, however, with Napier limited by a lingering foot injury, Smith was back in the starting lineup as a small forward and made the most of it. Asked if it was tough transitioning back to the position, Smith smiled.

“I was brought to Connecticut to play small forward,” he said.

UConn's system doesn't favor wings who are tall and athletic, but limited in jump shooting and dribbling. Frankly, Rudy Gay was largely wasted in our system, and he handled it and shot Js a lot better than Roscoe.

I am a big Roscoe fan, and remain convinced that the single thing most likely to turn us around is he and AO consistently coming forward with the play they gave us down the stretch last year. But I just don't think our system fits his skill set as a 3.

 

[Jaker]

hes not a SF that lineup is not the answer and if we play roscoe drummond and AO our zone offense will beyond awful. Now Roscoe will be needed but at the 4. and to guard fair/joseph

Yeah, Roscoe can't throw it in the ocean from the perimeter so against the zone he will need to be a beast on the glass.

 

[huskymagic]

hes not a SF that lineup is not the answer and if we play roscoe drummond and AO our zone offense will beyond awful. Now Roscoe will be needed but at the 4. and to guard fair/joseph

lol burnsbro do you really think its a coincidence that roscoe had his best game of the year when he finally played his natural position the 3 and finally played 30 minutes plus. I dont really car honestly as long as Roscoe starts games and is on the court for us for 30 minutes minimum, but he is most effective at small forward.

 

[huskymagic]

UConn's system doesn't favor wings who are tall and athletic, but limited in jump shooting and dribbling. Frankly, Rudy Gay was largely wasted in our system, and he handled it and shot Js a lot better than Roscoe.

I am a big Roscoe fan, and remain convinced that the single thing most likely to turn us around is he and AO consistently coming forward with the play they gave us down the stretch last year. But I just don't think our system fits his skill set as a 3.

Good points lawyer and I agree with them. That being said I dont care how many points roscoe scores if he score at all. He does so many things for us on the court rebounding, defending, blocking shots, making big defensive plays and stops that have a big impact on the outcome of games. Any player that has a big impact on the outcome of games especially on the defensive end must play and start. If roscoe continue to have the stats he had against villanova 7 points, 5 rebounds, 3 blocks, that is more than good enough production from him.

 

[champs99and04]

I don't have any stats to back this up, but I would be curious to see how many minutes Drummond, AO, and Roscoe have played this season on the court at the same time. There are clear drawbacks to this lineup, as we only have two guys who can create their own shot on the court, however, I'm wondering if the lack of offensive efficiency could be made up for by the lockdown defense. The length, height, and athleticism of that lineup is something I was dreaming about before the season.

Not only would that lineup be incredibly difficult to score on, but I feel like we would hammer teams on the boards, especially a team like Cuse, who has struggled rebounding all season long. Think of how many offensive rebounds we could potentially come away with on Saturday night with three exceptional offensive rebounders on the court at one time. I guarantee you kids like Roscoe will watch the USF-SU tape and lick their chops.

Again, I'm not sure how much this lineup has played together this season, but one example of this lineup working out was the second half of the Notre Dame game. Think about it, Notre Dame was a team that has currently won nine in a row, and has lost one home game in the last three years, and UConn absolutely demolished them in the second half with their length and athleticism. Coincidently, Boatright was out, which opened the door for kids like Roscoe and Giffey. Of course, there are other games, like the Tennessee game, where you'll want to pull your hair out watching three unskilled players on the court at one time, but I think we will always be in the game with this lineup on the court simply because of their relentlessness on the defensive end of the floor.

 

[Burnsbros23]

lol burnsbro do you really think its a coincidence that roscoe had his best game of the year when he finally played his natural position the 3 and finally played 30 minutes plus. I dont really car honestly as long as Roscoe starts games and is on the court for us for 30 minutes minimum, but he is most effective at small forward.

Roscoe might have played more pf than Sf on monday. His natural position isnt SF. You do realize that he wasnt a SF last year he was mostly a 4. People forget that our best lineup was Bazz kemba lamb ROSCOE and AO. And when it wasnt that it was probably Kemba Jeremy Coombs Roscoe and AO. And whenever I bring this point up you ignore it.

Now like I said we will 100% need Roscoe saturnday Cuse has the kinda wing players we need him to defend. That said when Roscoe is at the 3 we will struggle on offense. Olander will not be nearly tough enough to play with cuse I hope to see most if not all Roscoe at the 4 taking those minutes.