So compared to last year we seem to have a "whole team"

[UConn Hoops1]

with huge nads. Last year we really only had one possibly 1.75. The rest were growing a pair so to speak. Yeah, we won the NC but a lot of the players were "give it to Kemba and get out of the way players". We might call them "Nads Trainees". I was a little worried after watching yesterday's game that the fertilizer might not have worked or the growing season might have to be prolonged a bit. Nope! We're good. In fact my guess is,that by the end of the season, we'll officially annoint them as Team Nads. I'm a happy UConn fan!

GO HUSKIES!!! BEAT THE RAZORBACKS!!!

 

[DogMania]

They have more scoring options, but for the most part really struggled to convert during winning time the last two games. Bazz came up huge with that late 3 and Boatright with those 3 FTs, but there were way too many empty trips and forced shots late in today's game.

Bazz showed huge ones on that late 3 though. He's not one who's afraid to make plays. Lamb seemed to disappear. Don't know if some credit should go to FSU for not letting him beat them. Though it seemed Jeremy was stymied at the top of the key in the 2nd half and couldn't shake the defense.

Boatright showed little fear and attacked the paint late in the game. I was very impressed that he showed that type of confidence for just his first game. Huge props to the Boatshow.

We need some of our other shooters to step up though. Daniels has looked a tad reluctant in the past two games. I think the weight of each shot he takes, as in their importance, is weighing on him. He needs to play more freely and let it fly.

Roscoe, after putting a few nice games together, seemed to lose some confidence in his shot and play making. It seemed after turning it over a couple times he was more afraid to make mistakes than plays. There is lies the problem with inexperienced players or ones in new roles.

Give this team time and hopefully they will have plenty of weapons who aren't afraid to take big shots and make big plays. They had just enough to squeak out a W today. It's only going to get tougher, but they'll get better.

 

[UConn Hoops1]

In very general terms, realizing that there were "empty trips", the BIG difference this afternoon, is that this team didn't, to quote JC postgame yesterday, "quite playing". The work rate and persistence, after giving up another lead, was stellar.Hence the team wide nads accolade. I don't think Jeremy disappears(and it is REALLY hard to criticize Shabazz here). I did think, while he made big shots, there were long stretches where, quite frankly, he(Shabazz) stopped running the offense and was almost exclusively hunting his own shots. I was actually screaming at the screen for JC to sit him just to give him perspective. He did not get the bigs or Jeremy involved anywhere near often enough. And, honestly, when we're getting nothing on the offensive end it puts way too much pressure on the defense. And, again, we coughed up a fairly substantial lead.It wasn't as bad as yesterday but he still had 6 turnovers to 5 assists. Yesterday it was 7 to 5. I have no doubt that his decision making(especially under pressure in the 2nd half) will improve as he matures. And, no doubt, the presence of Ryan Boatright will be a huge help. We have a ton of top quality big men. They are not there just to rebound and block shots. Once this team consistently establishes balance on the offensive end they are going to be something special.

GO HUSKIES!!! BEAT THE RAZORBACKS!!!​

 

[Gurleyman]

In some fairness to Shabazz - FSU went to a zone late figuring that we'd have issues with it again, and to a large degree we did. We had Tyler flash to the foul line and he didn't show any ball toughness and turned it over. Drummond really shouldn't have the ball in his hands late - both for being a freshman big man and for his FT issues (the two passes to Drummond were the two worst decisions Shabazz made, IMO). Twice he found Jeremy for alley-oops, even though the first was his turnover - I thought it was more a case that Jeremy tried to go up with one hand and didn't make the catch, but I'd have to watch it again to be sure. I also thought Jeremy's handle was a little too loose today, so I'm not sure we really wanted him trying to attack the gaps of the zone off the dribble against a team that plays D like they do. As the season goes on and more players get comfortable, there should be more options and we'll hopefully look a little more crisp.

 

[Mots010]

I love all of the pieces I see on this team. I think the key, as said above is, is our guards keeping the big men engaged on offense. We did this well in the first half, but lost it in the second half when Bazz and Boatright started to look for their own shots. When we did try to feed the big men, the passes were off. It wasnt pretty, but we stole a win, and this is one of our few chances at playing a higher ranked team before the big east schedule.