Shabazz needs to realize

[superjohn]

Shabazz won that game for us with his stellar play with about 2 minutes left in regulation and draining all his free throws in the overtimes. He needs to realize he is our beat player and everyone else feeds off him, he simply can't turn down open shots and fling up off balance shots out of frustration. The past two games he basically did nothing until the game was almost over and then decided he's the best player on the floor and took over. It luckily got us 2 wins down here but it won't work going forward. We aren't talented enough for him to take off most of the game and the other players seem to feed off of his play.

 

[Palatine]

He's doing enough.

 

[uconnfan68]

Shabazz won that game for us with his stellar play with about 2 minutes left in regulation and draining all his free throws in the overtimes. He needs to realize he is our beat player and everyone else feeds off him, he simply can't turn down open shots and fling up off balance shots out of frustration. The past two games he basically did nothing until the game was almost over and then decided he's the best player on the floor and took over. It luckily got us 2 wins down here but it won't work going forward. We aren't talented enough for him to take off most of the game and the other players seem to feed off of his play.

I disagree. I thought he and Boat shut the rest of them out. We'll never do well if they don't get more guys involved. I thought QU deserved to win tonight, although I'm happy we did. I don't think we won the hustle game though.

 

[61cygni]

He's still working out the best way to be a leader who people will follow.

 

[Huskies4ever]

Shabazz won that game for us with his stellar play with about 2 minutes left in regulation and draining all his free throws in the overtimes. He needs to realize he is our beat player and everyone else feeds off him, he simply can't turn down open shots and fling up off balance shots out of frustration. The past two games he basically did nothing until the game was almost over and then decided he's the best player on the floor and took over. It luckily got us 2 wins down here but it won't work going forward. We aren't talented enough for him to take off most of the game and the other players seem to feed off of his play.

He's extremely tough, and has a lot of heart. I agree with what you said, except we need more consistency out of everyone else, and we need to rebound. We have pieces, we need consistency.

 

[ctchamps]

I also disagree. He tried getting involved early and nothing was going in. UConn is lucky he didn't leave after JC announced his retirement.

 

[Huskies4ever]

Shabazz has been inconsistent, but clutch as hell.

 

[huskiesnyc]

Shabazz is 'n man!

 

[SlicinNDyson11]

He struggled most of the game, so instead of chucking up bad shots like he did most of the first half, he took what was given to him. Bazz missed a couple of open three' s in the second half, but he clearly was struggling up until the final minutes of the game. Credit him for not continuing to force the issue in the second half, and when it counted he stepped up big time. Not a pretty win but awesome to see the team grind out a win when our two most crucial players were just bad for most of the game.

 

[superjohn]

Trust me I'm not looking to bash Shabazz at all, he's already one of my all-time favorite Huskys. He's supremely talented and is still clearly trying to figure out the right balance of distributing and making plays for himself. I just think at times it gets in his head and he turns down wide open plays for himself, he just needs to trust himself and his abilities all the time, he's damn good.

 

[huskiesnyc]

Omaaaahh put up a quiet 17 although it took 2 overtimes to get there. DeAndre Daniels decided to take the escalator tonight though

 

[CAHUSKY]

Shabazz had 29 and 5 boards. Hard to blame him for much tonight

 

[huskiesnyc]

Trust me I'm not looking to bash Shabazz at all, he's already one of my all-time favorite Huskys. He's supremely talented and is still clearly trying to figure out the right balance of distributing and making plays for himself. I just think at times it gets in his head and he turns down wide open plays for himself, he just needs to trust himself and his abilities all the time, he's damn good.

Shabazz wasn't feeling his shot and clearly thinking way too much. Once the game is on the line he puts all that out of his mind, and his clutchness takes over.

 

[Huskies4ever]

Omaaaahh put up a quiet 17 although it took 2 overtimes to get there. DeAndre Daniels decided to take the escalator tonight though

Daniels had some big-time defensive plays, though.

 

[housekeys]

Shabazz did well. No complaints from me. Among the leadership qualities is to get others involved. He tries and if that fails, then he needs to do other things a leader does, like take over with clutch shooting and FT's etc. He is human, he will make mistakes, I'll take him either way.

 

[housekeys]

Daniels had some big-time defensive plays, though.

Absolutely. A quite game offensively, but very clutch defense and rebounding.

 

[huskiesnyc]

Daniels had some big-time defensive plays, though.

I would have liked to see him more aggressive on offense. This is the type of team he could've lit up for at least 15 with his quickness. He just seemed kind of out of it, but he did make a couple big stops

 

[Huskies4ever]

I would have liked to see him more aggressive on offense. This is the type of team he could've lit up for at least 15 with his quickness. He just seemed kind of out of it, but he did make a couple big stops

Unfortunately (or fortunately) our offense sucked, untill Shabazz and the Boat Show took over. They are the strength of our team, both offensively and defensively. As they go, we go. Calhoun was great (for a quiet 17)

 

[housekeys]

I would have liked to see him more aggressive on offense. This is the type of team he could've lit up for at least 15 with his quickness. He just seemed kind of out of it, but he did make a couple big stops

Well, sometimes when you are not on, you have to defer to others. But you still need to contribute. That is exactly what he did. I applaud him for not forcing things and having the maturity to play a role, which was absolutely critical. This will help him, I believe.

 

[Fishy]

There are going to be games where the only player on the court Napier can count on is Boatright....and there are some games where he won't even have that.

Tonight was such a night.

There was a period midway through the second half where I thought the air came out of Napier a little bit - UConn was called for five fouls in a little over a minute, Napier missed a too-quick jumpshot and UConn turned a three-point lead into a quick deficit. I think they were tired of the possession to possession game against someone they expected to beat - fortunately, they do seem to have some grit to 'em.

We need more out of Calhoun and Daniels. Calhoun cannot simply be a jumpshooter on this team - with two midgets like Boat and Napier throwing themselves around with abandon, we need the kid to do likewise.

 

[jdb50]

I think we were up 3 and had 4 fouls on one possession. After that Q went on a run and their guard was running around thinking he was Diana Taurasi holding his shirt out but... the game wasn't over.

 

[Burnsbros23]

Shabazz just needs to continue to balance looking for his shot and getting others involved. He can't force getting shots up that wont be good.

Teams have realized Olander has no right hand and they just play him that he way. Daniels still needs to get stronger. Omar showed some skills tonight.

 

[djct1999]

Hard to slam Shabazz for anything he did last night. It is nice to wonder though how amazing he would be if he played that way for the majority of the game or any game. His spurts are simply ridiculous.

 

[HuskyBballFan]

I've said before that Shabazz is either the best player on the floor or the worst, with no in between. Last night he managed to be both in the same game.

Some of the plays he makes are just mind blowingly bad. The sequence where he passed up the open corner three and then turned it over, fouling 35 feet from the basket with a 4 point lead, just about every shot he took in the first half, etc. But the kid just has a knack for hitting big shots and there was no doubt in my mind that he was going to knock down those free throws. He'll drive you crazy, but I'm glad he's on our team.

 

[cohenzone]

SN is a terrific player. There is this little pattern though, where he, for whatever reason - shot not falling, deferring, who knows - doesn't start scoring until the last quarter. What disappointed me last night, though, was not SN, but a seeming return to what I liked least about the JC-era offense. Too much dribbling and not enough ball movement. I've been encouraged by the ball movement this year until last night. And, of course, we seemed to be out-hustled. There will be plenty of games where we are out-muscled, but this team can't get away with the other team being that much more aggressive than we were. This is one of those games where the losing team probably deserved a better fate. While I'm a Husky through and through, I have a little spot for QU because, as a famous politician once said (or was it Tina Fey?), I can see QU from my house.