Single Most Important Factor to a Deep Run

[businesslawyer]

My first thought is that we have to be able to get off our schneid of not being able to win a close game, but that's more of an effect than a cause.

While a lot of other things come to mind, the most obvious answer is the simple one. Donovan Clingan played the first 40% of the season as if he was the next Zach Eddy, but way ahead of where Eddy was as a frosh. When a ball came within his wingspan in the paint, he caught it and did something positive with it. He was unbelievably dominant. Which, rightfully, led to the debate as to whether him being on the floor was more valuable than having Sanogo on the floor, and if that didn't mean they had to have minutes on the floor together. Then DC disappeared in conference play. Many on here have attributed that to Big East refs not being willing to call fouls. I don't doubt that that has happened, or that it's relevant, but I don't think that's the primary cause. To me, he no longer is a vacuum cleaner catching every catchable ball in his area. I don't understand why -- whether it was hitting a freshman big wall, confidence shattered, being told he wasn't going to keep taking Sanogo's minutes or something else -- but my eyes tell me that, refs aside, he is not the same player.

When DC was the dominant DC, we were literally as good as anyone in the country. While we've been a very good team since having hit bottom in late January, we're not at that level. The 4 seed line is roughly how we've played the last month and a half -- maybe a little generous. We should get to the Sweet 16, and we certainly could get to Houston, without DC reverting to who he was in November and December. But if there is one key to a deep run, it's the early season DC coming back to us. Because that's the difference between a really good team that could do something special, and a great team that should do something special.

 

[Huskybass]

Andre Jackson staying out of foul trouble is critical.

 

[Ripper32]

Newton being able to run our offense and not be bottled up. I remember what happened at Omaha.

 

[gsmooth]

All of the above. All 3 were happening in November. AJax, although he had 1 call I didn't agree with, committed some dumb fouls in that Marquette game. We all want the AJax in the first 28 minutes of that Providence game.

 

[huskiesouth]

My completely uneducated guess is that Iona, after pressuring the ball coming up court on every possession, will jam the middle to prevent any penetration and to bottle up AS, in essence telling us, if we want to win, hitting 3's is our only available path.

 

[SEbluebood]

My completely uneducated guess is that Iona, after pressuring the ball coming up court on every possession, will jam the middle to prevent any penetration and to bottle up AS, in essence telling us, if we want to win, hitting 3's is our only available path.

Not a problem! Even shooting 30% or less from three, we would overcome that with dominance on rebounds! Plus they will struggle to score against our defense!

 

[Dogdeacon]

NCAA tourney is almost always about guard play, that's the key to controlling games and a deep tourney run. Applies to both offensive and defensive side of the ball. Need all hands on deck and at least 2 guys playing well from 5 guards Newton, Hawk, Diarra, Alleyne, JoeyC. Then Jackson to help steady that group assisting with breaking press and distributing the ball in half-court. Feel good about Huskies ability on defensive side to control game & opponents' guards, offensive effectiveness & execution still varies game-to-game.

Alleyne was the only 1 of 5 to have a good offensive game v Marquette, though Joey was 1 shot away from one. But just can't have both Hawk & Newton posting subpar shooting/scoring games.

 

[Hunt for 7]

Confidence!!!!!

 

[gsmooth]

My completely uneducated guess is that Iona, after pressuring the ball coming up court on every possession, will jam the middle to prevent any penetration and to bottle up AS, in essence telling us, if we want to win, hitting 3's is our only available path.

That's my guess, too. That's what Villanova did in their first match in Hartford against UConn. As long as the mindset is correct and the players such as Hawk, Alleyne, Karaban, etc. don't overthink it they should be good.

 

[navery12]

2/3 of Hawkins, Calcaterra, Alleyene being locked in from 3 each game

 

[firstnline]

Right now to me each game we play is like a horse race. We are not stalkers and we are not closers. In otherwards we need to come out of the gate fast and maintain a lead which to me no matter who we play gives us the best chance of winning.

You can throw out talent and records right now because we all are 0-0. I also get to every game I go to when the doors open so I can walk down courtside, if the ushers let me, and look at the teams body language, are they communicating with each other before the game, are they loosey goosey, are they upbeat or are they slouching and ignoring each other. We need to have a positive mental attitude out there.

So to me the single most important factor is our frame of mind having the positive attitude.

 

[CL82]

My first thought is that we have to be able to get off our schneid of not being able to win a close game, but that's more of an effect than a cause.

While a lot of other things come to mind, the most obvious answer is the simple one. Donovan Clingan played the first 40% of the season as if he was the next Zach Eddy, but way ahead of where Eddy was as a frosh. When a ball came within his wingspan in the paint, he caught it and did something positive with it. He was unbelievably dominant. Which, rightfully, led to the debate as to whether him being on the floor was more valuable than having Sanogo on the floor, and if that didn't mean they had to have minutes on the floor together. That DC disappeared in conference play. Many on here have attributed that to Big East refs not being willing to call fouls. I don't doubt that that has happened, or that it's relevant, but I don't think that's the primary cause. To me, he no longer is a vacuum cleaner catching every catchable ball in his area. I don't understand why -- whether it was hitting a freshman big wall, confidence shattered, being told he wasn't going to keep taking Sanogo's minutes or something else -- but my eyes tell me that, refs aside, he is not the same player.

When DC was the dominant DC, we were literally as good as anyone in the country. While we've been a very good team since having hit bottom in late January, we're not at that level. The 4 seed line is roughly how we've played the last month and a half -- maybe a little generous. We should get to the Sweet 16, and we certainly could get to Houston, without DC reverting to who he was in November and December. But if there is one key to a deep run, it's the early season DC coming back to us. Because that's the difference between a really good team that could do something special, and a great team that should do something special.

For what it’s worth, some of Donovan’s “struggles” six seem to be a result of entry passes. The ball coming in too hot or in a bad place for a 7 inch 2 foot center, or sometimes just in a crowd. Just an impression from watching the games in real time. I haven’t gone back and rewatch the games to confirm whether it is valid.

I think the key to being successful is cranking up our transition offenses and keeping it up the whole game. Rebound and outlet. Our height advantage will help us in our half quart sets, but we are at our best when we are in transition in scoring easy baskets.

 

[ucp990411]

We need Andre to be the best version of Andre. If he does that we win, win , win, win, win and win again. That's right win 6 times. Every one feeds off him.

 

[Peacefrog]

NCAA tourney is almost always about guard play, that's the key to controlling games and a deep tourney run. Applies to both offensive and defensive side of the ball. Need all hands on deck and at least 2 guys playing well from 5 guards Newton, Hawk, Diarra, Alleyne, JoeyC. Then Jackson to help steady that group assisting with breaking press and distributing the ball in half-court. Feel good about Huskies ability on defensive side to control game & opponents' guards, offensive effectiveness & execution still varies game-to-game.

Alleyne was the only 1 of 5 to have a good offensive game v Marquette, though Joey was 1 shot away from one. But just can't have both Hawk & Newton posting subpar shooting/scoring games.

Agreed on most counts but I'm probably somewhat less sanguine about our ability to stop the opponent's guards defensively. I say that without having any particular knowledge of their guards beyond what our in-house scout has had to say. This season, at times, we seemed to have a lot of trouble stopping the dribble drive without fouling. If we can indeed do that, I like our chances. I like our chances either way but this would make things eminently less stressful.

 

[tennmike]

If the team plays loose and are having fun, they win by a wide margin because they have more talent at every position. If they play uptight and are constantly looking back to the coach for direction, it's anyone's game. Hurley's cares deeply about winning...so much so that it sometimes translates poorly in games of consequence.

 

[alphasigko]

There is no "single" item that needs to be done, but rather, multiple items occurring near to simultaneously:

AJ playing under control

Newton playing like a point guard

Sonogo passing out when he has nowhere to go

Hawk, AK, DC and Joey C hitting their shots and FTs

Good solid passes that result in baskets, not TOs

Watching where your feet are near the sidelines

Playing tough, in your face, defense

Have fun out there

 

[Austin316]

We aren’t a team that’s depended on one player. We just need to play smart through out the tournament and we will have a nice run.

In pretty much every loss…

Not aggressive to the rim (we are a good FT shooting team)
More turnovers
Lost rebounds battle
More dumb fouls than good fouls

That being said… every loss is a close game. We usually have a player off the bench that will step up when called upon. It’s not a single person, just game details that they can focus on winning.

Go Huskies!

 

[August_West]

Agreed on most counts but I'm probably somewhat less sanguine about our ability to stop the opponent's guards defensively. I say that without having any particular knowledge of their guards beyond what our in-house scout has had to say. This season, at times, we seemed to have a lot of trouble stopping the dribble drive without fouling. If we can indeed do that, I like our chances. I like our chances either way but this would make things eminently less stressful.

That’s how St. John’s hung 85 and 86 points on us

 

[UConnSwag11]

My first thought is that we have to be able to get off our schneid of not being able to win a close game, but that's more of an effect than a cause.

While a lot of other things come to mind, the most obvious answer is the simple one. Donovan Clingan played the first 40% of the season as if he was the next Zach Eddy, but way ahead of where Eddy was as a frosh. When a ball came within his wingspan in the paint, he caught it and did something positive with it. He was unbelievably dominant. Which, rightfully, led to the debate as to whether him being on the floor was more valuable than having Sanogo on the floor, and if that didn't mean they had to have minutes on the floor together. That DC disappeared in conference play. Many on here have attributed that to Big East refs not being willing to call fouls. I don't doubt that that has happened, or that it's relevant, but I don't think that's the primary cause. To me, he no longer is a vacuum cleaner catching every catchable ball in his area. I don't understand why -- whether it was hitting a freshman big wall, confidence shattered, being told he wasn't going to keep taking Sanogo's minutes or something else -- but my eyes tell me that, refs aside, he is not the same player.

When DC was the dominant DC, we were literally as good as anyone in the country. While we've been a very good team since having hit bottom in late January, we're not at that level. The 4 seed line is roughly how we've played the last month and a half -- maybe a little generous. We should get to the Sweet 16, and we certainly could get to Houston, without DC reverting to who he was in November and December. But if there is one key to a deep run, it's the early season DC coming back to us. Because that's the difference between a really good team that could do something special, and a great team that should do something special.

He has to play more than 10 mpg. His minutes have to be 15-20. There is no tomorrow

 

[Dogdeacon]

That’s how St. John’s hung 85 and 86 points on us

Yeah, confidence in defense wise, I was mostly speaking to game 1 and hopefully game 2 & similarly no advance knowledge or scouting yet anticipating less physical & a notch below BE guard quality.

 

[86.578]

If I had to pick one thing it would be to cut down on the dumb turnovers.......especially standing OB and some of the over the top difficult passes.....1 or 2 of each of those is worth, call it, 4 pts a game.

A close second would be not to take their foot off the gas pedal with a 2nd half lead....they're not a great half-court offense......go for the jugular.

I do think that if Newton continues to take it to the basket, he will now get calls (at least a handful, maybe 2 or 3 a half) that I think will be worth another 8 pts a game at the line.

If we could "find" 12 ppg, look out.

 

[86.578]

There is no "single" item that needs to be done, but rather, multiple items occurring near to simultaneously:

AJ playing under control

Newton playing like a point guard

Sonogo passing out when he has nowhere to go

Hawk, AK, DC and Joey C hitting their shots and FTs

Good solid passes that result in baskets, not TOs

Watching where your feet are near the sidelines

Playing tough, in your face, defense

Have fun out there

You posted while I was writing.....great points

 

[pj]

My first thought is that we have to be able to get off our schneid of not being able to win a close game, but that's more of an effect than a cause.

While a lot of other things come to mind, the most obvious answer is the simple one. Donovan Clingan played the first 40% of the season as if he was the next Zach Eddy, but way ahead of where Eddy was as a frosh. When a ball came within his wingspan in the paint, he caught it and did something positive with it. He was unbelievably dominant. Which, rightfully, led to the debate as to whether him being on the floor was more valuable than having Sanogo on the floor, and if that didn't mean they had to have minutes on the floor together. That DC disappeared in conference play. Many on here have attributed that to Big East refs not being willing to call fouls. I don't doubt that that has happened, or that it's relevant, but I don't think that's the primary cause. To me, he no longer is a vacuum cleaner catching every catchable ball in his area. I don't understand why -- whether it was hitting a freshman big wall, confidence shattered, being told he wasn't going to keep taking Sanogo's minutes or something else -- but my eyes tell me that, refs aside, he is not the same player.

When DC was the dominant DC, we were literally as good as anyone in the country. While we've been a very good team since having hit bottom in late January, we're not at that level. The 4 seed line is roughly how we've played the last month and a half -- maybe a little generous. We should get to the Sweet 16, and we certainly could get to Houston, without DC reverting to who he was in November and December. But if there is one key to a deep run, it's the early season DC coming back to us. Because that's the difference between a really good team that could do something special, and a great team that should do something special.

If he's only playing 10 minutes a game, it's hard to see how an improvement in his play is going to be decisive for us.

 

[Hunt for 7]

Right now to me each game we play is like a horse race. We are not stalkers and we are not closers. In otherwards we need to come out of the gate fast and maintain a lead which to me no matter who we play gives us the best chance of winning.

You can throw out talent and records right now because we all are 0-0. I also get to every game I go to when the doors open so I can walk down courtside, if the ushers let me, and look at the teams body language, are they communicating with each other before the game, are they loosey goosey, are they upbeat or are they slouching and ignoring each other. We need to have a positive mental attitude out there.

So to me the single most important factor is our frame of mind having the positive attitude.

So in other words confidence. Another example of BY original organic thinking. But unless you have been a member or previous player or someone who knows someone, original thoughts are only recognized if they are posted by the in crowd. I was screaming for a 3-2 zone for weeks and the experts in this forum just kept on saying 2-3 zone. Which showed a complete lack of understanding that a 3-2 zone addresses our biggest deficiency dribble penetration from the middle of the court. Then amazingly Hurley decides to go 3-2 against Marquette and it worked. And then I watched all the experts saying I told you so use a zone. I challenge anyone to find a post other than my posts that called for a 3-2 zone. So the board is full of opinions but I do find it void of individuals who truly understand the game or how to motivate a team. The same experts that say we need a new coach. But if I were Hurley I would stop the candy hand out before games. It ruins your dinner

 

[jake14mw]

Clingan has definitely come down to earth some. I think it's just normal freshman stuff, it's hard to sustain at the level he was at for a while. But I don't really think his play is one of the keys. How Newton plays to me is by far the biggest key. He needs to be penetrating an getting to the line. When he's on, we're really tough to beat. With Karaban, Sanogo, and Hawkins, you have three options for somebody having a big scoring day. We just need two out of the three.