Shabazz is a very good basketball player.

[Palatine]

He is in something called a slump. Apparently, some of you have never heard of this phenomenon. Ted Williams had slumps, Kobe Bryant has slumps, and on and on.

Sometimes with young players, if a part of their game goes south, say shooting, it affects other parts of their game. They press, commit TOs or lack focus on the defensive end. It has all crashed down on Shabazz. He is playing poorly.

But the incredibly stupid remarks about him being the worst PG in UConn history are completely uncalled for. Get a freakin's hold of your bad self. Ricky Moore couldn't shoot at this point in his college career. KEA didn't score a FG against Gonzoga in the elite eight game, which at that point was the biggest game of his life. Etc, etc, etc.

This kid is a very good basketball player. He just needs to find one thing he is doing well and build on that. He needs to be a good teammate and bring energy to the floor. Eventually, his shot will start falling, he will have double assist games and collect big rebounds. He is going to be a part of many, many UConn victories over the next few years. Book it.

 

[60'sfan]

I agree that Shabazz is a very good player. As good as Kemba was last year, I don't think we win the NC without Shabazz. He is, however, not playing good basketball right now and has been a liability at the point. His shooting stroke is also way off so the 2 guard is not a great place for him either. For now, I would prefer to see him come off the bench and fill the role that he did last year. I hope he fights through this and I think he will be great next year.

 

[James]

I dont think it's a lack of focus, i just can't understand why he is so slow footed on both the defensive and offensive end.

 

[Excalibur]

I dont think it's a lack of focus, i just can't understand why he is so slow footed on both the defensive and offensive end.

He wasn't last year. Obvious conclusion is that he's hurt more than he's letting on.

He's also in a slump the likes of which have not been seen since Tony Robertson.

 

[AfgHusky15]

I've never heard of an injury that only plagues a player when playing defense but magically goes away when it comes to playing offense. I don't know maybe its because I'm not a doctor or as some people in defense of bazz continue to say I'm not one of the trainers or coaches on the team so I wouldn't know

 

[Excalibur]

I've never heard of an injury that only plagues a player when playing defense but magically goes away when it comes to playing offense. I don't know maybe its because I'm not a doctor or as some people in defense of bazz continue to say I'm not one of the trainers or coaches on the team so I wouldn't know

Really? You think he's moving well on offense?

 

[Walker11]

I've never heard of an injury that only plagues a player when playing defense but magically goes away when it comes to playing offense. I don't know maybe its because I'm not a doctor or as some people in defense of bazz continue to say I'm not one of the trainers or coaches on the team so I wouldn't know

It doesn't take a doctor to realize that Shabazz isn't nearly as quick on either end of the floor compared to both last year and the beginning of the season.

 

[aceboon]

I've never heard of an injury that only plagues a player when playing defense but magically goes away when it comes to playing offense. I don't know maybe its because I'm not a doctor or as some people in defense of bazz continue to say I'm not one of the trainers or coaches on the team so I wouldn't know

Not sure what Shabazz you're watching where he looks good physically on offense. Shabazz was never going to be confused with Kemba or Boat but he can't get by anyone or create space for his jumper at the moment, two things which he did last year and the beginning of this year.

 

[AfgHusky15]

I never said bazz looked good on offense. If you actually read my post i was talking about physical effort, or better yet physical capability on both ends of the ball. If you watch the games you will notice shabazz has the physical capability to spin and dribble, which on a bad ankle would be very difficult to do, but can physically raise his arms to contest three pointers, putting his hands up on defense has nothing to do with a supposed sprained ankle some people keep talking about it has to do with effort and want

Not sure what Shabazz you're watching where he looks good physically on offense. Shabazz was never going to be confused with Kemba or Boat but he can't get by anyone or create space for his jumper at the moment, two things which he did last year and the beginning of this year.

Can't physically raise his arms *

 

[aceboon]

got it, I agree with you on the hands up thing, it bugs the hell out of me and seems to be a team wide thing, Jeremy does the same thing too(see the Kilpatrick 3, the Snaer missed 3 against FSU). Guys are already rotating for no reason out on the perimeter, at least get your hands up to contest the shot.

 

[Drumguy]

It doesn't take a doctor to realize that Shabazz isn't nearly as quick on either end of the floor compared to both last year and the beginning of the season.

His earlier foot problem has not healed -its pretty obvious he's got something going on.

FWIW, Old Coach on the wome's board does a pretty good analysis of what small things like a change in shoes can do for a players stroke - interesting if there some issue with their new gear as well as his feet.

 

[paul belfiore]

He is in something called a slump. Apparently, some of you have never heard of this phenomenon. Ted Williams had slumps, Kobe Bryant has slumps, and on and on.

Sometimes with young players, if a part of their game goes south, say shooting, it affects other parts of their game. They press, commit TOs or lack focus on the defensive end. It has all crashed down on Shabazz. He is playing poorly.

But the incredibly stupid remarks about him being the worst PG in UConn history are completely uncalled for. Get a freakin's hold of your bad self. Ricky Moore couldn't shoot at this point in his college career. KEA didn't score a FG against Gonzoga in the elite eight game, which at that point was the biggest game of his life. Etc, etc, etc.

This kid is a very good basketball player. He just needs to find one thing he is doing well and build on that. He needs to be a good teammate and bring energy to the floor. Eventually, his shot will start falling, he will have double assist games and collect big rebounds. He is going to be a part of many, many UConn victories over the next few years. Book it.

Very good player, Really? Let's not get carried away. He is playing like crap right now on both ends. He thinks he's better than he is. Success is like a martini, it relaxs you. That is what is happening here. How many floaters has lamb shot this year? It was his signature shot last year. Nappier dribbles away half the shot clock than turns it over. His man is blowing by him on D and he is shooting so bad he can't hit the duck**n rim now. He may be in a slump but he's not even as good as Derron Scheffer right now.

 

[SJ]

It's Napier. Not Nappier. Just something a lot of people do that makes me a little mental.

 

[mauconnfan]

It's Napier. Not Nappier. Just something a lot of people do that makes me a little mental.

Add to that it's Doron not "Derron" tells you the "morrons" we deal with!!

 

[RuffRuff]

A slump usually refers to shooting and while he is in a shooting slump, it's the phase of his game that starts above the neck that is driving fans wild - decisions.

 

[Excalibur]

A slump usually refers to shooting and while he is in a shooting slump, it's the phase of his game that starts above the neck that is driving fans wild - decisions.

Again, shades of Tony R. in 2002. He eventually came out of it.

 

[huskymagic]

Very good player, Really? Let's not get carried away. He is playing like crap right now on both ends. He thinks he's better than he is. Success is like a martini, it relaxs you. That is what is happening here. How many floaters has lamb shot this year? It was his signature shot last year. Nappier dribbles away half the shot clock than turns it over. His man is blowing by him on D and he is shooting so bad he can't hit the duck**n rim now. He may be in a slump but he's not even as good as Derron Scheffer right now.

Paul many guys in here and they know who they are have and have had very inflated expectations of Napier's abilities. They think that he has some foot problems or some other injury excuses to justify his lack of athleticism and foot speed. They keep pointing to last year as an example when he came off the bench and was left unguarded many times because Napier was not on anyone's defensive radar as someone they needed to stop in order to win. This has made his ego think that he actually is a great player almost as good as kemba in his mind because of this inflated expectations and the fact that Calhoun made him a captain and the starting point guard.

Napier has the capabilities to be a useful player for us off the bench but thats as much as you can expect from him. Don't expect to win championships with Napier playing a major role on the the team's offense. Napier is a scoop jardine type player or a jordan Theodore from seton hall similar game similar players who are solid college players who lack great talent and athleticism, but not players that can win you big games. The thing that guys like Theodore have that Napier doesn't is that intangible leadership quality, good decision making, and swagger to rally a team together.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

This kid "huskymagic" is really carving out a nice niche as perhaps the most insufferable, unreadable poster on the board today.

 

[Dogbreath2U]

This kid "huskymagic" is really carving out a nice niche as perhaps the most insufferable, unreadable poster on the board today.

Sometimes it's hard to stand out from the crowd in that category, but he has clearly risen above the other contenders.

 

[huskymagic]

Sometimes it's hard to stand out from the crowd in that category, but he has clearly risen above the other contenders.

you guys humor me with this stuff but seriously we need to have our focus for the Syracuse game. Now knowing Blaney's decisions making he will stick with the same lineup we had against Louisville for the Syracuse game. Does it not concern everyone in the boneyard that Olander will be starting most likely on saturday and we will have a small backcourt of Napier and Boatright in the backcourt? Is this really the best lineup for Saturday and for the rest of the season. Do we really need Napier to have to defend Brandon triche and Dion Waiters when he's in the game. Even Boat who is one of favorite guys on the team will have a tough time defending a bigger, more experienced, and more physical scoop jardine.

We as a team can't wait for guys like Napier, olander, and daniels to somehow get better overnight, and play ahead of guys that are better and hungrier than they are. We need to win now and we do that by playing the best, hardest working, and most talented guys on the floor every game for 30 minutes minimum.

Starting Lineup: Boat, Lamb, Scoe, Alex, Drummond.
We can't play small against a team as long and as big as this syracuse team, that would be be insanely stupid of us. These are the 5 best guys on our team and they need to play 30 minutes minimum every game for us to play to our potential.