Smiling and Laughing

[jibsey]

And mugging for Saunders and Dickie, that was Trimble and then Stone. Let me pose a question. If they tried that against a Jim Calhoun team wouldn't they be lying on the hardwood bleeding after waltzing up the lane? Nothing illegal, just hard fouls that send a message. We have fouls to give. Now granted, our inside players are not exactly enforcers but everyone from the guards on up have to get some attitude going, help defensively and then hammer if necessary.

 

[HuskyBandDad]

And mugging for Saunders and Dickie, that was Trimble and then Stone. Let me pose a question. If they tried that against a Jim Calhoun team wouldn't they be lying on the hardwood bleeding after waltzing up the lane? Nothing illegal, just hard fouls that send a message. We have fouls to give. Now granted, our inside players are not exactly enforcers but everyone from the guards on up have to get some attitude going, help defensively and then hammer if necessary.

Thought

And mugging for Saunders and Dickie, that was Trimble and then Stone. Let me pose a question. If they tried that against a Jim Calhoun team wouldn't they be lying on the hardwood bleeding after waltzing up the lane? Nothing illegal, just hard fouls that send a message. We have fouls to give. Now granted, our inside players are not exactly enforcers but everyone from the guards on up have to get some attitude going, help defensively and then hammer if necessary.

Thought Brimah should have knocked Trimble into the 3rd row when Trimble made the drive over him and Brimah fouled

 

[August_West]

I had the thought watching the game last night and realizing we are soft as Charmin. I love KO as coach, he has turned around our off the court issues and is moving the program forward in a honorable manner. But man, are our kids too nice? He talks about doing things "the right way" and getting kids who want to be at UConn. I mean that is good thing I guess but there is no chip on the shoulder, no swagger, no willingness to fight back when getting punched in the mouth. The only kid on the team with some street swagger seems to be Adams. UConn teams were tough. This team is soft (at least right now) . On paper we should be way better than last year, but we are not, for one reason: Boat. Say what you will about Boat, but he was a fighter, tooth and nail. And that is a 2 way thing. Not just punching back at other team, but being tough with your own team when it needs fire. We have no one that the rest of the team can look to for toughness and leadership. We look so meek and tentative.

I dont want to hear about "comebacks" .

1) The kids shouldnt wait until the game is out of reach to start playing fearless basketball. (and make no mistake, this season we play meek and with tentative fear until the score dictates that we can throw caution to the wind. Then all of a sudden we take and make 3's, we go to the hoop strong, we defend with abandon)
2)Looking at "comebacks" is fools gold. They dont exist in a vacuum. Other teams tend to let up a bit with big cushions.

 

[Kitaman]

I have no issues with Trimble being happy and giddy, even during the game. Many opposing players will be that way when beating an elite team like us. The kid destroyed us and was at points toying with us.

We did not respond or come back with any attitude. Someone should have knocked that smile off of his face (legally) but no one showed that capability. Jaylen came as close as it comes, but he gets a 3 month pass.

Purvis nor Gibbs responded to Melo's challenge and both are considered being good guards. I hope they see this on film, but I sense it wouldn't matter. That was not a UConn response.

Taliek, Kemba, AJP, Dyson and a many others would have challenged him differently. I'm sure Ray, Rip and Ben were highly disappointed because all of them were killers. Melo punked us, plain and simple.

Remember John Wallace (giggly and talking smack) and how Ray responded? That's UConn ball!

 

[jibsey]

Thought

Thought Brimah should have knocked Trimble into the 3rd row when Trimble made the drive over him and Brimah fouled

I tend to ignore what Dickie says but last night he said "Brimah is limited". He meant offensively. He only played 18 minutes for a reason. Also as good a shot blocker that he is, he is soft. I know that while Enoch is green, last night he bodied up Stone and forced him to miss in a way Brimah never could. Do we cast our lot with him and hope he develops into a real big man? You tell me, but where we are going with AB and Phil is nowhere against good teams. They will shine against crap and that is fool's gold.

 

[boog204]

Enlighten me... We have always been a tough team. But I can only really think of Hayward and Jake who would've put someone on the "hardwood bleeding."

I get the point, but we have had more than our share of guys who "smiled and laughed" after crushing a good opponent. Bazz doing his "sleep" motion, the countless guys who would stare down the camera after a great play (Rip and Caron come to mind), Kemba's "exuberance" (could be read as flopping), or Khalid in every facet of the game.

We deserved to be laughed at last night. Trimble made our guards look pathetic and Stone, who was booed pretty heavily upon entering, dominated in the first half.

 

[August_West]

Enlighten me... We have always been a tough team. But I can only really think of Hayward and Jake who would've put someone on the "hardwood bleeding."

Edmund Saunders would have. Rod Sellers. Probably ahead of your guys even.

But yeah, you dont have to put someone on the hardwood bleeding to bring a toughness to the game. Khalid was the pillsbury dough boy but he was a tough basketball player, who would not let another team dictate a game.

 

[Kitaman]

Enlighten me... We have always been a tough team. But I can only really think of Hayward and Jake who would've put someone on the "hardwood bleeding."

I get the point, but we have had more than our share of guys who "smiled and laughed" after crushing a good opponent. Bazz doing his "sleep" motion, the countless guys who would stare down the camera after a great play (Rip and Caron come to mind), Kemba's "exuberance" (could be read as flopping), or Khalid in every facet of the game.

We deserved to be laughed at last night. Trimble made our guards look pathetic and Stone, who was booed pretty heavily upon entering, dominated in the first half.

As for me I was more interested in us responding to the challenge/taunting. The legit answer is making baskets along with steals/blocks with attitude. Bazz had it, Boat had it, Rip had it, Jerome, Rashad, etc..

Don't have to lay anyone out unless you want to send a certain type of message, and that type wasn't necessary this game.

 

[boog204]

Edmund Saunders would have. Rod Sellers. Probably ahead of your guys even.

But yeah, you dont have to put someone on the hardwood bleeding to bring a toughness to the game. Khalid was the pillsbury dough boy but he was a tough basketball player, who would not let another team dictate a game.

Forgot Sellers! He is the only one who actually did put someone to the floor (bless him). Edmund always struck me as more of the "sucker punch" type given that I saw him do it on campus more than once. But you are absolutely on. Boatright is one of the tougher players we've ever had and he sure as hell wasn't putting someone on the floor. But he wouldn't back down from anyone; he had his flaws, but man he was a tough s.o.b.

 

[uconnell]

I had the thought watching the game last night and realizing we are soft as Charmin. I love KO as coach, he has turned around our off the court issues and is moving the program forward in a honorable manner. But man, are our kids too nice? He talks about doing things "the right way" and getting kids who want to be at UConn. I mean that is good thing I guess but there is no chip on the shoulder, no swagger, no willingness to fight back when getting punched in the mouth. The only kid on the team with some street swagger seems to be Adams. UConn teams were tough. This team is soft (at least right now) . On paper we should be way better than last year, but we are not, for one reason: Boat. Say what you will about Boat, but he was a fighter, tooth and nail. And that is a 2 way thing. Not just punching back at other team, but being tough with your own team when it needs fire. We have no one that the rest of the team can look to for toughness and leadership. We look so meek and tentative.

I dont want to hear about "comebacks" .

1) The kids shouldnt wait until the game is out of reach to start playing fearless basketball. (and make no mistake, this season we play meek and with tentative fear until the score dictates that we can throw caution to the wind. Then all of a sudden we take and make 3's, we go to the hoop strong, we defend with abandon)
2)Looking at "comebacks" is fools gold. They dont exist in a vacuum. Other teams tend to let up a bit with big cushions.

I have the exact same thoughts.

 

[jibsey]

Enlighten me... We have always been a tough team. But I can only really think of Hayward and Jake who would've put someone on the "hardwood bleeding."

I get the point, but we have had more than our share of guys who "smiled and laughed" after crushing a good opponent. Bazz doing his "sleep" motion, the countless guys who would stare down the camera after a great play (Rip and Caron come to mind), Kemba's "exuberance" (could be read as flopping), or Khalid in every facet of the game.

We deserved to be laughed at last night. Trimble made our guards look pathetic and Stone, who was booed pretty heavily upon entering, dominated in the first half.

You think that this is a tough team? The term bleeding is a metaphor. Trimble comes down the lane and his defending guard and our help big man smother and block him and put him to the floor hard and wipe the smile off his face. No thuggery involved. If a technical happens so be it, better than for a freaking touch foul. It happens to Rodney about 5 times a game.

 

[Dogbreath2U]

I had the thought watching the game last night and realizing we are soft as Charmin. I love KO as coach, he has turned around our off the court issues and is moving the program forward in a honorable manner. But man, are our kids too nice? .

This is what I've been thinking about Shonn Miller so far. We need him to play with some inner Kevin Freeman "warrior-ness." I'm not looking for dirty play, but man get in there and mix it up.

This team reminds me some of the '99 group prior to the arrival of KEA. A lot of potential, but lacked the confidence and leadership that Khalid brought. Oh, could we use another KEA. He took on the pressure and allowed the others to play loose. That's what Trimble does for MD, among other things.

 

[Palatine]

I tend to ignore what Dickie says but last night he said "Brimah is limited". He meant offensively. He only played 18 minutes for a reason. Also as good a shot blocker that he is, he is soft. I know that while Enoch is green, last night he bodied up Stone and forced him to miss in a way Brimah never could. Do we cast our lot with him and hope he develops into a real big man? You tell me, but where we are going with AB and Phil is nowhere against good teams. They will shine against crap and that is fool's gold.

Brimah was our best player after Hamilton. He changed the game defensively went he was reinserted in the second half. He made the comeback possible. What are you guys watching?

 

[Dogdeacon]

To me the smiling wasn't all about toughness or lack thereof. It was justifiable confidence mixed with comfort. I saw one of the MD reserves smiling pre-game and thought; 'Uh-oh".

Now UConn not being tough minded or helping on defense etc.. contributed to the comfort part of this equation. But it does NOT take violence to make the opponent uncomfortable, simply co-ordinated effort, aggression and strong-will.

Essentially Trimble smiled because he was making great plays and he was confident & correct that he had control of the game. It sucked to see it as a UConn fan, but that's because the smile held the truth that he was beating our team and he knew it.

 

[jibsey]

I'm watching him score 2 points against the #6 team in the country. And if he gets credit for the comeback, what about being out there for the deficit?

 

[boog204]

You think that this is a tough team? The term bleeding is a metaphor. Trimble comes down the lane and his defending guard and our help big man smother and block him and put him to the floor hard and wipe the smile off his face. No thuggery involved. If a technical happens so be it, better than for a freaking touch foul. It happens to Rodney about 5 times a game.

No I think they are fairly pussimatic. Was referencing the poster who cited that Calhoun teams were always tough as the context was that a JC coached team would have "bloodied" someone last night.

 

[intlzncster]

I tend to ignore what Dickie says but last night he said "Brimah is limited". He meant offensively. He only played 18 minutes for a reason. Also as good a shot blocker that he is, he is soft. I know that while Enoch is green, last night he bodied up Stone and forced him to miss in a way Brimah never could. Do we cast our lot with him and hope he develops into a real big man? You tell me, but where we are going with AB and Phil is nowhere against good teams. They will shine against crap and that is fool's gold.

He played 18 minutes because he still can't stop committing stupid fouls. If he stopped that, he'd be playing 25-30minutes.

We have ZERO defensive presence without him in there. That is a huge issue for this team.

 

[boog204]

Brimah was our best player after Hamilton. He changed the game defensively went he was reinserted in the second half. He made the comeback possible. What are you guys watching?

He did... And he also was out for more than 1/2 the game with foul trouble which contributes to us going down so much. That's a running theme. Defensively, he's as good as advertised (blocking shots) but offensively he's still a bit of a disaster. That baseline jumper was nice, but there was also a putrid looking jump hook, he's a complete non-threat on pick and rolls (allowed MD to double the ballhandler), and lots of ball stoppage when he would get the ball at the top of the key for some reason. It's a give and take with him. If we play better offensively, you can deal with what he lacks. But when we suck offensively, it's often like playing 4 v 5.

 

[August_West]

He did... And he also was out for more than 1/2 the game with foul trouble which contributes to us going down so much. That's a running theme. Defensively, he's as good as advertised (blocking shots) but offensively he's still a bit of a disaster. That baseline jumper was nice, but there was also a putrid looking jump hook, he's a complete non-threat on pick and rolls (allowed MD to double the ballhandler), and lots of ball stoppage when he would get the ball at the top of the key for some reason. It's a give and take with him. If we play better offensively, you can deal with what he lacks. But when we suck offensively, it's often like playing 4 v 5.

eh. Other than blocks defensively (which are important game changers. no doubt) his defense is lacking too.

 

[BUConn10]

I had the thought watching the game last night and realizing we are soft as Charmin. I love KO as coach, he has turned around our off the court issues and is moving the program forward in a honorable manner. But man, are our kids too nice? He talks about doing things "the right way" and getting kids who want to be at UConn. I mean that is good thing I guess but there is no chip on the shoulder, no swagger, no willingness to fight back when getting punched in the mouth. The only kid on the team with some street swagger seems to be Adams. UConn teams were tough. This team is soft (at least right now) . On paper we should be way better than last year, but we are not, for one reason: Boat. Say what you will about Boat, but he was a fighter, tooth and nail. And that is a 2 way thing. Not just punching back at other team, but being tough with your own team when it needs fire. We have no one that the rest of the team can look to for toughness and leadership. We look so meek and tentative.

I dont want to hear about "comebacks" .

1) The kids shouldnt wait until the game is out of reach to start playing fearless basketball. (and make no mistake, this season we play meek and with tentative fear until the score dictates that we can throw caution to the wind. Then all of a sudden we take and make 3's, we go to the hoop strong, we defend with abandon)
2)Looking at "comebacks" is fools gold. They dont exist in a vacuum. Other teams tend to let up a bit with big cushions.

Preach!

 

[boog204]

eh. Other than blocks defensively (which are important game changers. no doubt) his defense is lacking too.

Agreed, that's why I only mentioned the blocks... His rotations are pretty piss poor and he tries to block everything. But he does change an opponents plan when he's in the game and we are a better team when he's on the floor. But he's such a polarizing player in that he often does stupid things (fouls, rebounding, positioning) that put us in a hole before he can contribute meaningful things to help us win.

 

[Pudge]

I think part of the problem with Brimah is he is told not to pick up silly fouls early in the first half. He did play entirely different in the latter phases of this game ... and he did it with the knowledge that he wasn't getting yanked. I don't know if the kid can develop an IQ that just puts him at ease to play a efficient menacing game; but, he is playing softer early.

 

[Northbound]

Edmund Saunders would have. Rod Sellers. Probably ahead of your guys even.

But yeah, you dont have to put someone on the hardwood bleeding to bring a toughness to the game. Khalid was the pillsbury dough boy but he was a tough basketball player, who would not let another team dictate a game.

Paging Mr. Selvie on line one. I think he told Eugene Edgerson at Arizona to basically shut his mouth or he'd shut it for him.

 

[superjohn]

Selvie was the toughest and best power forward who ever laced them up for Uconn, I would give my left testical to have him on this team.

 

[intlzncster]

Selvie was the toughest and best power forward who ever laced them up for Uconn, I would give my left testical to have him on this team.

Johnnie Selvie cured cancer....in between rebounding drills.