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Six games left

JMick said:
No I think we're fine going 3-3 it'll just be a lousy seed
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3-3 and a first round BET exit puts us at 20-12 and limping in. You may be right probably puts us on the 8-9 line but I wouldn’t be shocked to be left out at that record.
 
Per Eamonn Brennan of the Athletic, we are not yet a "Lock." He classifies us as "Should be in," and writes:

Connecticut (17-7, 8-5; NET: 18, SOS: 37): Nothing feels easy for UConn, does it? Is it just us, or is it true that every time we check on a Huskies game, they’re in the midst of some sort of brutal physical battle that involves getting the ball as close to the rim as possible, muscling some dudes out of the way, missing, and then repeating this process as necessary? Does UConn ever truly flow? Anyway, aesthetic concerns aside, this remains a tough, solid team, albeit one that can get bogged down in games like the one it played Sunday — a 63-60 survival in 73 possessions at St. John’s, albeit one that came 48 hours after a difficult road trip to Xavier, a game the Huskies lost. They’re perfect for the classic Big East, in other words, and the resume is solid, but three losses in five games have taken a little of the shine off, though not so much that we think getting in to the field will be an issue. Just maybe not the most watchable bunch for the neutral, that’s all.

theathletic.com

Bubble Watch: Rutgers is the new Providence. Tell your friends

After a disastrous first month of the season, Rutgers is somehow back in the NCAA Tournament picture.
theathletic.com theathletic.com
 
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Storrs South said:
Xavier, Nova, and DePaul all appear to be tracking towards sell out crowds.

Need the game Wednesday against Seton Hall to be the same. It's going to be a battle and this team thrives off crowd energy.
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Truest assessment of this team. They feed off energy more than any team i can remember. Some of our better Calhoun teams enjoyed going on the road and shooshing the opposing crowd. Not these guys. They're like the friend who only ever wanted you to come over to their house and play with their toys.
 
This season has been kind of humbling. Coach in year 4 with his own complete vision of culture, defense, toughness and his own players in place and we’re just… good…. competitive, tied with a Creighton team replacing 5 starters. We were very spoiled competing for season titles every year in an even bigger and better Big East under Calhoun. Still 6 games left but it’s been a little bit of a disappointing season thus far.
 
UcannUconn said:
This season has been kind of humbling. Coach in year 4 with his own complete vision of culture, defense, toughness and his own players in place and we’re just… good…. competitive, tied with a Creighton team replacing 5 starters. We were very spoiled competing for season titles every year in an even bigger and better Big East under Calhoun. Still 6 games left but it’s been a little bit of a disappointing season thus far.
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I‘m not feeling that really. This season was still disrupted by Covid, if less so. It likely cost us one win. Sanogo, Whaley and Martin missed games, including most of our losses. There’s a reason the team is still just outside a 4 seed…because at full strength it’s a lot better than it’s record suggests. There is the issue of closing out games, but Sunday they showed they could. So let’s see how it plays out.
 
HuskyHawk said:
I‘m not feeling that really. This season was still disrupted by Covid, if less so. It likely cost us one win. Sanogo, Whaley and Martin missed games, including most of our losses. There’s a reason the team is still just outside a 4 seed…because at full strength it’s a lot better than it’s record suggests. There is the issue of closing out games, but Sunday they showed they could. So let’s see how it plays out.
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I think the Creighton and Nova debacle stained the season a little for some fans. But before those losses we hadn’t really lost when healthy. Calling this season a disappointing one is premature in my opinion. There’s a WHOLE lot of season left. What if we go 5-1 down the stretch and end up in the big east championship game. That get us a 3-4 seed. That’d be far from disappointing. I agree let it play out
 
HuskyHawk said:
I‘m not feeling that really. This season was still disrupted by Covid, if less so. It likely cost us one win. Sanogo, Whaley and Martin missed games, including most of our losses. There’s a reason the team is still just outside a 4 seed…because at full strength it’s a lot better than it’s record suggests. There is the issue of closing out games, but Sunday they showed they could. So let’s see how it plays out.
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Everyone has dealt with Covid and injuries. We've lucked out with other teams missing key players. We're at full strength basically (no Akok) and Nova smoked us with no Justin Moore and no Gillespie for much of the second half. We barely squeaked one out against St. John's with no Posh.
 
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HuskyHawk said:
I‘m not feeling that really. This season was still disrupted by Covid, if less so. It likely cost us one win. Sanogo, Whaley and Martin missed games, including most of our losses. There’s a reason the team is still just outside a 4 seed…because at full strength it’s a lot better than it’s record suggests. There is the issue of closing out games, but Sunday they showed they could. So let’s see how it plays out.
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Trajectory seems pretty reasonable to me. The program was a tire fire with a real dearth of talent just a few years ago. The "woe is us" and "I long for the days when" stuff just comes across as spoiled nonsense.
 
UcannUconn said:
This season has been kind of humbling. Coach in year 4 with his own complete vision of culture, defense, toughness and his own players in place and we’re just… good…. competitive, tied with a Creighton team replacing 5 starters. We were very spoiled competing for season titles every year in an even bigger and better Big East under Calhoun. Still 6 games left but it’s been a little bit of a disappointing season thus far.
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You should just have some perspective.

This isn't an elite roster yet. It's a very good one, but our experienced players aren't super talented. Our 2 best players are a sophomore and an uptransfer from Howard. Our other super seniors are a 150+ recruit and a 3 star guy. Another senior is a transfer from the A-10. Our best recruit from the first real class tore his achilles. The borderline top 100 guy from that class ended up a miss. The other guy in the class was so good he left before the talent level caught up to him.

Yet we're a top 25 team.
 
BigErnMcCracken said:
Trajectory seems pretty reasonable to me. The program was a tire fire with a real dearth of talent just a few years ago. The "woe is us" and "I long for the days when" stuff just comes across as spoiled nonsense.
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Trajectory could be better. Year 4 is pretty deep. If we were to just stay like this, competitive but not competing for a championship like the new Xavier, I wouldn’t be happy. This literally his Hurley’s vision in action his old key recruit, the star PG who played for his father, defensive minded tough, athletic team. I don’t see us having much more talent in the near future. We should have been competing for a season championship this year. Not a lost season or anything and still much time left but fans are lying when they say they aren’t a little disappointed.
 
UcannUconn said:
Trajectory could be better. Year 4 is pretty deep. If we were to just stay like this, competitive but not competing for a championship like the new Xavier, I wouldn’t be happy. This literally his Hurley’s vision in action his old key recruit, the star PG who played for his father, defensive minded tough, athletic team. I don’t see us having much more talent in the near future. We should have been competing for a season championship this year. Not a lost season or anything and still much time left but fans are lying when they say they aren’t a little disappointed.
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He just got a commitment from one of his highest rated recruits ever in Castle. There’s plenty of talent coming in. Sanogo, Jackson, Hawkins are all definitely back. Karaban, clingan, Floyd, Johnson all waiting in the wings. The future is really bright. I’m not sure how much higher the trajectory should be, especially with the way Hurley prefers to build. A 3-5 seed would not be a disappointing season imo. Of course there is plenty of room for this season to become a disappointment
 
Stinger92860 said:
I don’t think we are a lock yet. If we go 4-2 we are in, but 3-3 would make me uncomfortable. Anything worse and we could be on the bubble.
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But is we go 3-3 and we beat the 3 toughest teams (Villanova, Xavier and Creighton or Seton Hall) we are definitely still in going 3-3.
 
UcannUconn said:
Trajectory could be better. Year 4 is pretty deep. If we were to just stay like this, competitive but not competing for a championship like the new Xavier, I wouldn’t be happy. This literally his Hurley’s vision in action his old key recruit, the star PG who played for his father, defensive minded tough, athletic team. I don’t see us having much more talent in the near future. We should have been competing for a season championship this year. Not a lost season or anything and still much time left but fans are lying when they say they aren’t a little disappointed.
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Honestly I disagree with most of your posts so we can just add another one. And your point about the talent level staying the same seems at odds with reality. Again, maybe you were in elementary school during the Ollie years, but this seems like a pretty reasonable spot to be in a few years in. And it's kind of presumptuous to say that fans who don't share your entitled disappointment are "lying."
 
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JMick said:
We're not in the AAC anymore. That wouldn't happen
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If we were still in the AAC with this years team...we wouldn't be 17-7 overall...we would be 20-4 instead....over the 24 games played this year.
 
UcannUconn said:
I don’t see us having much more talent in the near future. We should have been competing for a season championship this year. Not a lost season or anything and still much time left but fans are lying when they say they aren’t a little disappointed.
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There's talent and then there's experienced, developed talent. We're going to finish 3rd (maybe 4th) in a top 4 league while being a top 25 team.

Here are our upperclassmen who get 20+ minutes a game and their HS recruiting ranks:
Rj Cole - Rank 400+
Tyrese Martin - Rank 220+
Tyler Polley - Rank 160+
Isaiah Whaley - Unranked.

Of course the talent level is going to get better. Sanogo, Jackson, Hawkins, Diggins, Johnson, etc. are going to get older and better. The seniors are going to get replaced with top 100 guys. Some might miss, but overall the talent level is unquestionably going to get better. Our biggest flaw is the lack of a guy who can create his own shot at the end of the clock, because Cole isn't naturally gifted enough. Just wait until Hawkins is a junior.

Here are Villanova's upperclassmen who get 20+ minutes a game and their HS recruiting ranks:
GIllespie - 200
Moore - 57
Samuels - 46
Slater - 53
Dixon - 73 (he's soph but RS soph, he's 21 years old)
Daniels - Unranked.
 
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UcannUconn said:
Trajectory could be better. Year 4 is pretty deep. If we were to just stay like this, competitive but not competing for a championship like the new Xavier, I wouldn’t be happy. This literally his Hurley’s vision in action his old key recruit, the star PG who played for his father, defensive minded tough, athletic team. I don’t see us having much more talent in the near future. We should have been competing for a season championship this year. Not a lost season or anything and still much time left but fans are lying when they say they aren’t a little disappointed.
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The sad thing is I'm pretty you're serious with these posts. I'd be embarrassed to post these thoughts publicly
 
I think defense is going to decide the last 6 games. UConn needs to be tough and take the damn three's away especially from Nova.

I think 5-1 is possible
 
auror said:
There's talent and then there's experienced, developed talent. We're going to finish 3rd (maybe 4th) in a top 4 league while being a top 25 team.

Here are our upperclassmen who get 20+ minutes a game and their HS recruiting ranks:
Rj Cole - Rank 400+
Tyrese Martin - Rank 220+
Tyler Polley - Rank 160+
Isaiah Whaley - Unranked.

Of course the talent level is going to get better. Sanogo, Jackson, Hawkins, Diggins, Johnson, etc. are going to get older and better. The seniors are going to get replaced with top 100 guys. Some might miss, but overall the talent level is unquestionably going to get better. Our biggest flaw is the lack of a guy who can create his own shot at the end of the clock, because Cole isn't naturally gifted enough. Just wait until Hawkins is a junior.

Here are Villanova's upperclassmen who get 20+ minutes a game and their HS recruiting ranks:
GIllespie - 200
Moore - 57
Samuels - 46
Slater - 53
Dixon - 73 (he's soph but RS soph, he's 21 years old)
Daniels - Unranked.
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I looked up Isaiah Whaley and he was unranked at least on 24/7. So that makes it even the more impressive the impact he has made.
 
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uconnbill said:
I think defense is going to decide the last 6 games. UConn needs to be tough and take the damn three's away especially from Nova.

I think 5-1 is possible
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First game vs Nova was one of only 3 this season where the opponent scored 80+ in regulation. We actually had a decent offensive game. Shot 50% overall, 40% from 3, 88% FTs, but Nova was even better in all 3 categories, plus outrebounded us. UConn lost by 11, mostly due to interior defense. Dixon took us apart on both ends - 24 pts, 12 reb. Probably AJax's worst game on both ends - 0 on offense, only 3 boards. Sanogo and Whaley both in foul trouble.

Perimeter D needs to again be very good next time, but it's in the paint where we lost the first one - Nova outscored us 22-6 in the first half in the paint. Without Justin Moore. It would be a difficult win, but it's not unthinkable if the bigs can stay out of foul trouble and AJax plays like AJax can.
 
PNolanFan said:
In regards to our bubble status, right now espn has UNC in the field and without delving too deep into their schedule I do not think they have a single win over a team expected to make the tournament
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But UNC is good for ratings. Shouldn't that be good enough? Besides that their announcers love to drool about them and their blueblood status. It wouldn't be "The Dance" without them and their student/athletic studies programs.
 
UcannUconn said:
Trajectory could be better. Year 4 is pretty deep. If we were to just stay like this, competitive but not competing for a championship like the new Xavier, I wouldn’t be happy. This literally his Hurley’s vision in action his old key recruit, the star PG who played for his father, defensive minded tough, athletic team. I don’t see us having much more talent in the near future. We should have been competing for a season championship this year. Not a lost season or anything and still much time left but fans are lying when they say they aren’t a little disappointed.
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If this was actually Hurley's vision he would still be recruiting mid major transfers, but he's not, because those were just the best guys he could get at the time when he first took over the program.

This board is hilarious. In the preseason all the publications had us ranked in the 20-35 range, with the majority 25-35, and everyone thought it was fair. Then the team played to that exact level and it's a disappointment.
 
auror said:
There's talent and then there's experienced, developed talent. We're going to finish 3rd (maybe 4th) in a top 4 league while being a top 25 team.

Here are our upperclassmen who get 20+ minutes a game and their HS recruiting ranks:
Rj Cole - Rank 400+
Tyrese Martin - Rank 220+
Tyler Polley - Rank 160+
Isaiah Whaley - Unranked.

Of course the talent level is going to get better. Sanogo, Jackson, Hawkins, Diggins, Johnson, etc. are going to get older and better. The seniors are going to get replaced with top 100 guys. Some might miss, but overall the talent level is unquestionably going to get better. Our biggest flaw is the lack of a guy who can create his own shot at the end of the clock, because Cole isn't naturally gifted enough. Just wait until Hawkins is a junior.

Here are Villanova's upperclassmen who get 20+ minutes a game and their HS recruiting ranks:
GIllespie - 200
Moore - 57
Samuels - 46
Slater - 53
Dixon - 73 (he's soph but RS soph, he's 21 years old)
Daniels - Unranked.
Expand ...

Excellent post. There are 2 axes here (experience and talent), and people ignore or forget one of them, usually to suit.

Where we've struggled is supplementing with more recent transfers. We have 3 groups of players, really:

1) KO holdover upperclassmen (Polley, Whaley)
2) Early recruits/transfers (Cole, Martin, Akok, Gaffney, Springs)
3) "Next" (Jackson, Hawkins, Diggins, Sanogo, Johnson)
 
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There is talk about Iowa State, THE LAST PLACE TEAM IN THE BIG12 DANCING
 
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