Season is still very very salvageable

[Greg]

Go away troll

Sorry, if you are too immature to handle truth. This team is far too talented to be a bottom feeder in the AAC. Hurley is a very good recruiter but a poor coach. No way with the talent at his disposal the record should be as poor as it is. Let him recruit but the team needs a coach who is a great teacher and game coach. If you lose a ton of close games it usually points to a bad in game coach. This club had very experienced, multi year starters at guard and a good mix of veteran and young talent at the other positions.

 

[jibsey]

Squad has some talent but many many holes. This group as they are right now can not be great that’s obvious by now. I don’t fault the players who are trying hard, hopefully the addition of talent next year will push the team higher.

 

[Get a Job]

Let's hear from the people who still think we can win out...

 

[alphasigko]

After what we witnessed today do you still think the season is "salvageable"? IMO getting to the NIT will be a long shot. Just sayin'.....

 

[alphasigko]

Sorry, if you are too immature to handle truth. This team is far too talented to be a bottom feeder in the AAC. Hurley is a very good recruiter but a poor coach. No way with the talent at his disposal the record should be as poor as it is. Let him recruit but the team needs a coach who is a great teacher and game coach. If you lose a ton of close games it usually points to a bad in game coach. This club had very experienced, multi year starters at guard and a good mix of veteran and young talent at the other positions.

Even the best coach cannot win if his players cannot routinely make baskets and especially when they are really needed at the end of a close game.

 

[coachn]

Don't reach in and move your feet on defense. Make some shots on offense.

 

[Caronimo]

Every single game on the AAC schedule is winnable. Every single game on the AAC schedule is loseable. That’s how I feel. We are improved however. Sitting Carlton on the bench makes our odds better.

 

[freescooter]

We are certainly proving your second statement to be correct.

 

[UCLJ0211]

We have heard many times from Dan Hurley that this team's identity will have to be its defense, because it is not a strong offensive team.

UConn's holy trinity of success in the past 25 years (maybe since we came out on the short side of the 102-96 footrace w/UCLA?) has been:

Defensive stops,
Reduced turnovers, and
Made free throws

Games and championships have been won by UConn not so much because the team scored more points, but because the other team scored fewer points. If you are an offensively challenged team, this distinction is not just real, but crucial.

For the great UConn teams, as games wound down, it was essential to not allow the other team to catch up after the lead was secured.

We have not really seen this in almost 6 years, so it's easy to forget. Now we are seeing blown leads, after just previously only seeing comebacks that have fallen short, but look at some history:

Sometimes it has required a shutout in the final minutes (2004 Duke semi-final).

Sometimes it has featuted free throw shooting so spectacular that the other team didn't even bother to foul (Calipari 2014).

And yes, we remember Kemba's ankle breaker on McGee to beat Pitt, but watch that game again. It was a 40-minute heavyweight fight, with failed first half knockouts by both yeams
Yes, the amazing finish had the legendary, heroic shot, but then we had to beat higher-seeded Syracuse and Louisville on the next two nights, and did both by small margins.

That said, in the NCAA Championship game Butler was held to 41 points, on 18.8% shooting. UConn made 14-16 free throws. I couldn't care less that many nationally disliked such a low-scoring game. I found it a thing of beauty.

Winning a National Championship is very very difficult. It is not enough to have the best roster. See UConn 2006, and even (I know) 2012. Think of teams we've beaten that had 'better' rosters.

The 2020 defense is currently credible enough to keep us in games with good (not great) teams. There might not be great teams this year, or we might top out at good, and be OK with that. The defense must be maintained.

Next up - Free throws must be transformed or there will be more excruciating losses, unless the team loses faith and spirals.

And everybody on the team needs to mature some more, including protecting the ball, not making lazy/telegraphed/foolish passes, and setting real, full-stop screens. NOBODY is fully formed yet, unless you believe that the oldest players have hit their peak.If players who aren't equipped to do impossibly heavy lifting aren't asked to do it there's a chance that the season can tell a better story.

Go Huskies.

I agree. You get extra points for using “couldn’t care less” correctly as well.