St. John Post Game Thread

[ThabeetDown]

Our turnover issue is really a Andre Jackson issue

In 5 December games he had a total of 5 turnovers. In 2 January games, he has 8. Maybe he got over confident from his stellar December play? He at least needs to go do 90 MPH rather than the 100 MPH. As Hurley said earlier, he needs to learn to paint within the lines.

 

[Huskychick]

Man two really intense games in a row. This league is so tough. It reminds me of the old Big East. I have to feel like our teams are going to be prepared going into the NCAA tournament.

 

[storrsroars]

I bookmaraked the 13 min mark in the 2nd half when UCon was up 13 and RJ had to go to the bench with 3 fouls. That is when SJU stemmed the tide and started cutting the deficit albeit slowl. UConn had a lot wasted possessions

It was 14:08 and UConn was up 9, but who's counting. And Cole came back in at 12:20 with UConn up 7. There were two TOs in that 1:52 (Hawkins, Gaff), but no real damage. UConn got the lead back up to 10 with more than 6 minutes left.

UConn was still up 6 at 2:41. From that point, Johnnies went 4-5 on three pointers and hit both their FTs. Cole went 0-3 (0-2 on 3s), Martin missed a jumper, and UConn went 3-6 on FTs (Sanogo 2-4, Whaley 1-2).

IOW, the difference was our shooting stunk in last couple minutes, theirs didn't. And unlike the Bazz/Boat era, or even late career CV, this is not a team that can be counted on to win a close one from the charity stripe.

 

[storrsroars]

Our turnover issue is really a Andre Jackson issue

AJ's TOs are more errors of commission, not omission. I think he'll improve on decisions when to pass, and I think his teammates will anticipate his passes better. But I also don't think you want to discourage him from throwing those darts as so many of them work.

The thing I noticed late was that when SJU wanted to press, the couldn't do a thing with AJ. He could easily pass or dribble out of the pressure. We could've used that in a couple of earlier games when Gaff was in late.

 

[storrsroars]

Guys plays without fear in OT and it made a big difference. They pushed the floor and attacked. They got into trouble going into slow down at 7 minutes in regulation with Hurley again almost managing to let a solid win get away. This team is going no where without the ability to keep a foot on opponents and put them away with a lead.

Among things Sanogo did that don't show up in box score was getting 4th and 5th fouls on Wheeler in last 14 secs of regulation. Johnnies missed him in OT. After that it was a game of attrition that Johnnies lost, with 3 key guys fouling out.

 

[mauconnfan]

This seems to be the script when we play St. Johns. They never quit. Well coached team that always seems to make runs on us.

It’s not just the script when we play St John’s actually is it? It’s more grabbing nice leads and being clueless how to hang on to them.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

All I can say is: I love Big East basketball and I’m so freakin’ glad we’re back in the Big East with fans in the building!!!

Can’t wait to be at Gampel for the Xavier game!!!

 

[Scoe]

Breeds confidence to win a close game, now what do you do from here, you gotta build off this, can’t stay the same.

 

[freshler40]

AJ's TOs are more errors of commission, not omission. I think he'll improve on decisions when to pass, and I think his teammates will anticipate his passes better. But I also don't think you want to discourage him from throwing those darts as so many of them work.

The thing I noticed late was that when SJU wanted to press, the couldn't do a thing with AJ. He could easily pass or dribble out of the pressure. We could've used that in a couple of earlier games when Gaff was in late.

AJ has a lot of upside. Still early for him. His style is hard to guard, just needs to finish at the rim a lot more, too much looking to pass than score. He is a high flying dude and fun, for the most part to watch. AJ needs to dial it back and that is likely to happen.

 

[CTBasketball]

I was at the Bidwell. Wings were very good.

I was in the Air Bud jersey - wings are always very good!

 

[HuskyHawk]

We got stops in OT. Literally the only difference between the end of the game and the rest of the game is that the Johnnies scored 1.75 points per possession in the last 6:02 and 0.85 ppp in the other 38 minutes.

But they did hit a lot of contested shots, including the last 3 of regulation. Lots of weird bounces too. Jackson makes a near steal, it bounces away, they grab it and end up with a basket late in the clock.

 

[jibsey]

If anyone was at Bidwell before the game, we all agreed this would be a very close game. That 11pt spread was a joke. St. John’s isn’t that bad of a team.

Of course, and they have tough scrappy players and a superstar who can shoot.

 

[navery12]

Thought RJ Cole did a really good job on Posh. He got his points like all good players do, but it was a really inefficient shooting night for him

 

[alphasigko]

Turnovers killing us, 18 Saturday and 15 tonight

So are the number of missed FTs. They wound up making 17 of 26 = 65%. Completely unacceptable, especially when you consider that on JC teams making FTs throughout the game, and especially during crunch time, was the STANDARD, not the exception. Dan Hurley needs to get this rectified ASAP. They make 1 of those missed 9, they win by 1 in regulation; make 5 they win without much drama.

 

[DaveHuskiesFan]

I think what's helped our offense tremendously is not forcing the ball to Adama with his back to the basket or giving him the ball 10 feet away from the hoop. Most of the times he's getting the ball he has inside position and it's a quick bucket. Ball movement & positioning is our friend.

 

[Vancat]

Busted out of that damn pattern!

 

[huskysupporter]

He’s a monster

Any scuttle on where he is projected in next years draft? Top ten?

 

[Dean Wormer]

When we’re rolling, we’re scary good!

 

[HuskyHawk]

When we’re rolling, we’re scary good!

For about 30 seconds there, yeah.

 

[JustbrewitMan]

So I got to watch my first UConn game at floor level last night because August is the man.

Some random thoughts:

• You really need to watch a game at court level to appreciate how athletic these guys are. Across the board, for both teams. I was a middling JV/Varsity player in high school. I'd be scared sheetless out there vs. those guys. Everything is so quick, defense is so ridiculously tough. Makes you understand more how even a Top 50-100 recruit needs some time to adapt to the college game.
• 
  
• Andre is slowly realizing that he doesn't have to make an amazing tricky pass when he pushes the pace. He can actually take it to the hole and score and/or get fouled. There were 2 times where he pushed pace after a rebound, and could have just took it coast-to-coast for a highlight jam, but tried a pass and made a turnover. But there were a couple times where he made the right decision and took it to the rack. Again, at court level, it's so obvious as an observer to see how freakishly athletic he is and how very few players can stop him on a break. Don't know why he doesn't think so, but I think the light is turning on. I think AJ in 4-6 games is gonna be there.
• 
  
• Also related to AJ...his handle is much better than expected watching up close. Thought Posh was gonna eat him up but nope.
• 
  
• Champagne is soooo silky smooth. Gonna be a impact NBA player. We played really good D on him all night but he is just that good. He's gonna get his points vs. even elite college defense.
• 
  
• I thought we did a great job on Posh.
• 
  
• our blocking game is top-notch. It's reason #1 why I have no issue with our hard-hedging. If/when someone gets into the paint, there's very few easy baskets.
• 
  
• Seeing the hard-hedge in real-time at court level...unless you're an elite ballhandler/passer, you're going to at least partially soil yourself when you find yourself in it.

 

[huskyfan224]

Any scuttle on where he is projected in next years draft? Top ten?

Haha no, next year as in this coming draft, or 2023? 2022 he is not even on draft boards and I've only seen that he could be a second rounder. He is very good and is on a trajectory to be one of the best bigs in college basketball, if not already. He will need to get better at everything, especially handle and a jumper with range if he wants to be considered a first rounder. I'm sure I'm missing stuff on that quick assessment too, but if he continues to improve, I don't see how he couldn't find a place to play in the league at some point.

 

[gtcam]

LUCKY LUCKY LUCKY

A game UConn had no right to lose and then no right to win

The Good: Great interior defense for the most part and a will not to lose once it got to OT. Sanogo's rebounding. Sanogo decided to pass out of double/triple team TWICE!! (one resulted in a turnover but I guess the staff forgot to tell him it's best to pass in a direction away from the pressure)
The Bad: Free throw shooting in the 2nd half - UConn marches to the line 7 times and hit 1 of 2 all 7 times. The turnovers - some were just beyond mind blowing.
The UGLY: who drew up the plays out of TOs where Cole takes a 3 with tons of time in the clock?, who drew up the play where UConn has 4.8 seconds left and you need to go full court length you decide to put your smallest player (Cole) in the backcourt to be surrounded by 3 red shirts and throw the ball the length of the court to him? (Damn lucky a red shirt tipped the ball out of bounds. Why was our smallest player tasked to play Champagnie 1v1 while protecting a 2 pt lead in final seconds of regulation only to see that star player just rise above Cole and hit the obligatory 3 pt shot - these are plays and decisions that will cost this team more games

But - a win is a win

 

[ucp990411]

So are the number of missed FTs. They wound up making 17 of 26 = 65%. Completely unacceptable, especially when you consider that on JC teams making FTs throughout the game, and especially during crunch time, was the STANDARD, not the exception. Dan Hurley needs to get this rectified ASAP. They make 1 of those missed 9, they win by 1 in regulation; make 5 they win without much drama.

Not every JC team was a good free throw shooting team. 2003-2004 I believe shot 62% from the line. We are shooting .742 this year, a pretty good %. I agree last night we missed some crucial ones but we are usually not bad.

 

[HuskyHawk]

So I got to watch my first UConn game at floor level last night because August is the man.

Some random thoughts:

• You really need to watch a game at court level to appreciate how athletic these guys are. Across the board, for both teams. I was a middling JV/Varsity player in high school. I'd be scared sheetless out there vs. those guys. Everything is so quick, defense is so ridiculously tough. Makes you understand more how even a Top 50-100 recruit needs some time to adapt to the college game.
• 
  
• Andre is slowly realizing that he doesn't have to make an amazing tricky pass when he pushes the pace. He can actually take it to the hole and score and/or get fouled. There were 2 times where he pushed pace after a rebound, and could have just took it coast-to-coast for a highlight jam, but tried a pass and made a turnover. But there were a couple times where he made the right decision and took it to the rack. Again, at court level, it's so obvious as an observer to see how freakishly athletic he is and how very few players can stop him on a break. Don't know why he doesn't think so, but I think the light is turning on. I think AJ in 4-6 games is gonna be there.
• 
  
• Also related to AJ...his handle is much better than expected watching up close. Thought Posh was gonna eat him up but nope.
• 
  
• Champagne is soooo silky smooth. Gonna be a impact NBA player. We played really good D on him all night but he is just that good. He's gonna get his points vs. even elite college defense.
• 
  
• I thought we did a great job on Posh.
• 
  
• our blocking game is top-notch. It's reason #1 why I have no issue with our hard-hedging. If/when someone gets into the paint, there's very few easy baskets.
• 
  
• Seeing the hard-hedge in real-time at court level...unless you're an elite ballhandler/passer, you're going to at least partially soil yourself when you find yourself in it.

Totally agree about being at floor level up close. Did that in Charleston two years ago. Akok's end to end foot speed was particularly astonishing.

As for Andre, he's a one man press break. If he's back there, the press has no choice but to back off. They can't take the ball from him and if they come at him he blows by them or makes a pass and the fast break is on. Once that decision making is dialed in, he is (as I said before) a God dammed nightmare for the other team.

 

[nickp91]

Julian Champagnie kept the Johnnies in it against a tough UConn team

 

[F101Voodoo]

Craaaaap I wanted an easy win with no anxiety so I can go right to bed

You, I, and every intelligent reasonable UCONN fan wanted the same thing. But as an old alcoholic sergeant I knew in the Air Force used to say,…” people in hell want ice water”.

 

[F101Voodoo]

Our guys played like a totally different team in the OT as compared to the last 3 min and 22 seconds of regulation. Obviously goes without saying gimme the team that played in the OT.

 

[prankster]

Our guys played like a totally different team in the OT as compared to the last 3 min and 22 seconds of regulation. Obviously goes without saying gimme the team that played in the OT.

Part of that reflects the reality of 3 key Red Stain players having fouled out.

That limbered things up a bit, IMHO.

 

[dennismenace]

I was wondering this as well.

It looked like Cole had a word with Sanogo immediately after the play if I saw it correctly.

 

[ucp990411]

LUCKY LUCKY LUCKY

A game UConn had no right to lose and then no right to win

The Good: Great interior defense for the most part and a will not to lose once it got to OT. Sanogo's rebounding. Sanogo decided to pass out of double/triple team TWICE!! (one resulted in a turnover but I guess the staff forgot to tell him it's best to pass in a direction away from the pressure)
The Bad: Free throw shooting in the 2nd half - UConn marches to the line 7 times and hit 1 of 2 all 7 times. The turnovers - some were just beyond mind blowing.
The UGLY: who drew up the plays out of TOs where Cole takes a 3 with tons of time in the clock?, who drew up the play where UConn has 4.8 seconds left and you need to go full court length you decide to put your smallest player (Cole) in the backcourt to be surrounded by 3 red shirts and throw the ball the length of the court to him? (Damn lucky a red shirt tipped the ball out of bounds. Why was our smallest player tasked to play Champagnie 1v1 while protecting a 2 pt lead in final seconds of regulation only to see that star player just rise above Cole and hit the obligatory 3 pt shot - these are plays and decisions that will cost this team more games

But - a win is a win

What a take. Do you honestly think the play was drawn up for RJ to take that 3? Do you honestly think the play was to throw the ball to RJ being triple teamed ( he wasn’t)? Do you honestly think that RJ was assigned to Champagne at the end of regulation? They ran a play and our guys switched, which they should not have. Ever coach? Plays break down all the time.