They had a very sluggish first half but came out with fire in the second half. I told those who sat with me that JC was going to read them the riot act during half and they'd come out playing a lot harder and they did. I do wonder, w/out Boatright, if Bazz and Lamb tend to play soft on the perimeter so that they don't get into early foul trouble. They only have 2 guards for 2 spots. They're in trouble if one or both have to sit, though Lamb did better than I expected running the point in the second half. I just think against a more athletic backcourt like the one they faced against Wagner, Lamb and whoever they play along side him will have their hands full and will struggle to get the team into their half-court offense. With that said, they play on both ends lacked the intensity you'd expect.
As a team, they shot the ball better than they did the first few games.
Daniels looks like the most complete player to arrive in Storrs since Caron Butler. The kid can shoot it from inside, mid-range and deep. He can defend, block shots, rebound, run the floor, you name it. He just needs time to develop his body and game. As good as he is, he hasn't even come close to his ceiling and still has much to learn.
Tyler continues to play well and IMO is the biggest surprise so far.
AD began to assert himself on both ends of the floor, something he failed to do for any sort of long stretch during the first few games of the season. He and Alex have to stop rushing their shots. I'm good with them fighting like wild men to get the offensive rebound or deep post position but once they get the ball make sure they're square to the hoop and shoot the ball off the glass or dunk it instead of these wild tossed in the vicinity of the rim. It will cost them games if they end up pounding the ball inside to only come up empty, and even worse if the other team gets easy transition baskets the other way because we have 3 guys pounding the glass to no avail.
Bazz, even as banged up as he was, played well. His shot has dramatically improved. Like what I said about Kemba after he struggled shooting the ball his first season, he's a lot better shooter than people realize. Both were pretty good from 3 in HS. It's simply hard to shot it consistently when you only take 1 to 3 3s a game and never develop confidence and a rhythm. Now that he's taking more 3s he's hitting more. As some pointed out, his form is improved and his release is so much quicker. You don't need too much space if you can snap that J off quickly, and Bazz has been very good at taking advantage when defenses are sleeping and/or giving him too much space. I'm not always happy with the timing of some of his 3s, but when you think about it, if he's shooting it well, it's not a bad thing to get off an uncontested or lightly contested 3 earl in the clock compared to some desperation highly contested one late in the clock. As long as he's not hoisting them up at an alarming pace, I'm okay with it. JC's strategy is to have plenty of possessions where they make their opponent work very hard defending our half-court sets. Unlike ND that would simply try to eat clock and reduce the overall possessions during the game, UConn uses their half-court to take away the opponents legs by the 2nd half. Seems to work quite often. That's not to say that they plan on using the entire 35. If they create a good shot early they'll take it. The problem with this group is they've been bad at creating good shots in the half court particularly in the first half.
As for the 2nd half, they did a much better job of attacking the paint and basket. Lamb and others were getting into the paint and the bigs were very good at crashing the boards. JC clearly got his message accross.
Seems like Alex worked his way out of JC's dog house and had some good stretches, while Roscoe is beginning to stake residence. He only played 13 minutes but led the team in turnovers with 3. He was really pressing out there and not playing as carefree as he did at the end of last season. I think he'll be fine, but he's going to have to battle his way through this. He must be feeling the squeeze with Daniels and Olander playing so well squeezing a lot of his minutes at both the 3 and the 4.
Giffey is also taking some of his minutes. Niels has had an up and down early season so far, similar to Roscoe. Those two seem to be getting an earful from JC each game. I'm kind of surprised by some of the mental errors these two have struggled with considering they both got a lot of experience last season. Like Roscoe, I think he'll settle down. What I think both are struggling most with is the yellow light they both have as far as shooting the ball. They're struggling with how to play aggressive while taking the right shots. For example Giffey has received the ball wide open just inside or outside the 3 pt arc and instead of squaring up and taking a solid J, he would drive intro traffic and either take a tougher shot or pass it to someone who doesn't have as good a scoring opportunity. I'm not saying this is easy. Sometimes you don't want to take the first open shot, especially if you're not the top 1 or 2 options. But if you're capable of knocking down that type of shot and the D is giving it to you, sometimes you have to take them confidently. Niels did and knocked down one of his two 3s.
I'm confident that once the team as a whole begins to execute their half-court better, these two will settle down and have a lot more confidence in their decision and shot making. Right now they're struggling which is opening the door for more PT from Daniels who has the talent to take some of their minutes and keep them.
All in all, I thought they showed some sustained solid play in the second half, something they hadn't shown much of thus far. Hopefully they can do more of that in the next few games, especially in the first half. Against good teams, they run the risk of digging an early hole if they don't up the intensity and execution in the first half.
