So after last night's game ... POLL

[August_West]

Are you new? "Yes" is the answer. I don't understand this zeal to reaffirm the lowered status of the program all day every day. Superjohn's got that under control. I think people get it by now.

They were down a bucket or so on the road reasonably deep into the second half against a much more talented Arizona team who had a couple guys who we simply did not have the personnel to guard straight up in the post. I don't think anyone's beating off with excitement right now (except maybe Freescooter over the loss) but I don't think it's unreasonable to feel at least marginally better after last night.

SuperJohn is putting together the basketball equivalent of the Steele Dossier against KO, and calling Izzo's agent.

 

[Son of Robert]

Walton helped our recruiting and national image last night with his very positive, continuing stream of pro Uconn, pro Ollie commentary.

Arizona I don't think played to their capabilities and kind of let us hang around some. As one announcer stated this was a tricky game because of the scheduling, post finals/ before Christmas break, especially he stated for the home team. The road team has something to prove was his commentary, and I think that this played a role in how the game played out. We did play with heart though and there were signs of improvement in many areas. Turnovers and cohesive team offense surely need work.

 

[zls44]

Last night was a step in the right direction. Even the sagarin rating jumped about 10 spots.

And their KenPom rating dropped.
And they're still rated as one of the luckiest teams in the country.

 

[Coach J]

Walton helped our recruiting and national image last night with his very positive, continuing stream of pro Uconn, pro Ollie commentary.

Arizona I don't think played to their capabilities and kind of let us hang around some. As one announcer stated this was a tricky game because of the scheduling, post finals/ before Christmas break, especially he stated for the home team. The road team has something to prove was his commentary, and I think that this played a role in how the game played out. We did play with heart though and there were signs of improvement in many areas. Turnovers and cohesive team offense surely need work.

Yeah he did - multiple times. Which is amazing after he sat through that Arkansas disaster a few weeks ago.

 

[Coach J]

Yes the defensive effort was better and we hung with them for 35 minutes, BUT we had too many empty offensive possessions with bad shots, the wrong guys taking shots, or just dumb turnovers (i.e. trying to drive through 3 people) to win the game.

Defensively WE NEED to start better anticipating guarding open threats from 3 while the ball is in the air, and stop reacting to shooters after the fact once it is too late. At least 4 of the 3s they hit in the 2nd half including the last one fall into this category. Take those 12 points away and we at a minimum have a good away loss for RPI calculations and at best an upset road win vs a Top 25 team, instead we had a teasing disappointment once again. Go back on watch video of those 3s and see how our guys wait until the ball is in the shooters hand to go check them instead of heading that way while the ball is in the air. I had to keep rewinding because I couldn't believe what I was seeing especially on the last one - Jalen Adams totally misplayed that. Also can Diarra put his hands up when Ayton is taking a shot in his face - another costly head scratcher.

Also I would not hold out hope the NCAA will be granting eligibility to Wilson anytime soon. When have they ever ruled for anything in our favor?

 

[Huskybass]

That 1 player is the best talent and is a very skilled College player. I am not a NBA scout but he will be the first player I will take in the upcoming draft. The kid demands a double team around the basket, can rebound from out of his area, shoot the midrange shot, block shots... yes UCONN would be undefeated and final four bound if they had him. Could you imagine the wide open shots we would get, the spacing would be much better, Gilbert and Adams would have a field day driving to the lane. Defensively he would be the eraser if someone gets beat....
You must still be learning the game Baby bass...

That 1 player is the best talent and is a very skilled College player. I am not a NBA scout but he will be the first player I will take in the upcoming draft. The kid demands a double team around the basket, can rebound from out of his area, shoot the midrange shot, block shots... yes UCONN would be undefeated and final four bound if they had him. Could you imagine the wide open shots we would get, the spacing would be much better, Gilbert and Adams would have a field day driving to the lane. Defensively he would be the eraser if someone gets beat....
You must still be learning the game Baby bass...

Tremendous insight. Add the top player in the upcoming draft to any decent team and they will be better. That's not exactly unique to UConn.

 

[FlakeyFoont]

But 5 assists isn't good. Need to get more guys involved in the offense, which would likely carry over to defensive intensity as well. Too many hero plays by Adams and Larrier and not enough ball movement and easy baskets, in my opinion.

If we had a player who could make a basket after a feed, the assist numbers would be way up.

This team lacks a money player in the Bazz/Boat/Giffey mold. Not necessarily a once in a lifetime player like Kemba, but a player who can be counted on to make those big baskets that turn games around. It's not Adams and it's not Larrier and it's not Vital. The three of them are so maddeningly erratic - studs one night and duds the next. And so far it's not any of the new guys.

When this team starts to fall behind in a game, when we need to quickly stop the bleeding, I look out on the floor and ask myself in whose hands do I want the ball? At this point, honestly, I have no idea.

 

[Stainmaster]

wow...what a departure for UCONN , 4 National titles in 18 Years, Final 4's, Elite 8's, discussions on whether we would be a #1 or #2 seed.

Those days are never coming back. Get used to it.

 

[UCweCONN]

Sadly, the results of this poll some up where we are as a program. People finding positives in a 15 pt loss to a good, not great team. 15 wins and second straight losing season.

 

[Stainmaster]

second straight losing season.

Dumb dumb dumb...

 

[champs99and04]

Better. However, the bar was really low.

The idea that we might be better off without Adams and Larrier is nuts to me. Adams should be better by now, but he's still a gamer who represents our best chance against elite competition. Let's not forget that Larrier tore his ACL just over a year ago. I thought last night was the best he's looked in terms of putting the ball on the floor and getting to his spots. Adams and Larrier are our only two players who can get baskets one on one. Life would be extremely difficult with zero guys who can do that.

The KenPom ranking is what it is because we've been a bad team. The fact that we dropped on the KenPom rankings last night isn't, to my mind, an accurate reflection of what happened. Last night reminded me of an 8/1 match-up in that both teams had players but talent/depth/size won out in the end. One of the reasons we may have dropped on KenPom is because they don't seem to respect Arizona as much as Vegas. Vegas realizes that they're undefeated with their full array of players and that they're closer to a one or two seed caliber. Not sure how anybody can come away from that thinking Cincinnati or Wichita has a better chance to win the title regardless of what KenPom might think.

All in all, I thought they played last night like we could have reasonably expected them to play at the beginning of the season. It's not cause to celebrate but they looked competent.

 

[nomar]

Poll:

What was funnier, Walton asking Pasch about a dog that died three years ago, or Walton saying KO was going to join JC in the Hall of Fame?

 

[olehead]

They didn't choke. Arizona has a lot more quality talent than us. Put Deandre Ayton on UCONN and we wil be undefeated right now and final four bound.

Ayton, woah, he is the truth.

 

[olehead]

Those days are never coming back. Get used to it.

Say it ain't so Stairmaster

 

[JMick]

Those days are never coming back. Get used to it.

probably not, but it would be nice to meet somewhere in the middle between finishing 5th and 1st in the AAC, at least.

 

[QDOG5]

We went from maybe winning to maybe not covering a 16 1/2 pt. spread very quickly. I'm being selfish here but I hate low assists basketball. I mean I detest it. It's ugly, selfish ball. Maybe it will change going forward. Hopefully. Also, AZ made more free throws than we attempted. Granted they were the home team. That was a hallmark of JC teams. It's funny because when KO talks about what he wants his offense to look like it's the exact opposite of how they play.

 

[Stainmaster]

probably not, but it would be nice to meet somewhere in the middle between finishing 5th and 1st in the AAC, at least.

Even if that happens, there's still going to be the same complaining about not being a top seed/contending for national titles/sending multiple lottery picks per year.

 

[JMick]

Even if that happens, there's still going to be the same complaining about not being a top seed/contending for national titles/sending multiple lottery picks per year.

not from me.

 

[CL82]

Those days are never coming back. Get used to it.

Really? You think that we won't have 4 more natties by 2035? You may just be right about that.

 

[CL82]

Poll:

What was funnier, Walton asking Pasch about a dog that died three years ago, or Walton saying KO was going to join JC in the Hall of Fame?

Walton asking Pasch about a dog that died three years ago.

But funnier still was the mutual dislike and sniping that got worse over the night.

 

[Huskybass]

not from me.

I agree. I just want the program to get back to being relevant. That's it. Another championship at some point would be great, but all I really want is to make the tournament with some regularity so at least we have a dog in the fight.

 

[8893]

Those days are never coming back. Get used to it.

That's unnecessarily bleak imo Stain.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Even if that happens, there's still going to be the same complaining about not being a top seed/contending for national titles/sending multiple lottery picks per year.

Not every year, but I would expect to be ranked (5 seed or better) 2 years out of 3, and a legit contender (2 seed or better) every 3-4 years as a recruiting class develops, with maybe 1-2 1st-rounders every 4 year cycle.

Even that is a significant step backward from our 90's-00's heyday (10 #1/#2 seeds in 16 years), but should be reasonable expectations for a program that should dominate a mid-major conference.

 

[Austin316]

Same...

Started off slow again.

Not on Ollie by any means I thought they coaching was pretty good... our guys gave up in the last few minutes. We could have won that game.

 

[sledog]

That was a winnable game, they choked it in the last 6 minutes.

Watched only last 8 min, but that's what I thought as well.

But those Bunny Busters-- oi!! Do they really need lay-up practice?