Starting lineup/broken record | The Boneyard

Starting lineup/broken record

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uconngb

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I’ll say it for the millionth time. If we keep trotting that starting lineup out there, we will keep putting ourselves in a position to lose. Whaley and Jackson give nothing on offense. I don’t care about their “intangibles”. Neither of them are consistently productive enough to deserve the minutes they are getting. It’s the same pattern just about every game, especially against good teams. Gotta score to win. These slow starts doom us just about every game.
 
uconngb said:
I’ll say it for the millionth time. If we keep trotting that starting lineup out there, we will keep putting ourselves in a position to lose. Whaley and Jackson give nothing on offense. I don’t care about their “intangibles”. Neither of them are consistently productive enough to deserve the minutes they are getting. It’s the same pattern just about every game, especially against good teams. Gotta score to win. These slow starts doom us just about every game.
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Our backup 3/4 had 0. Our backup wing had 3 points on 1-5 shooting. Who should start?
 
It honestly doesn't matter who we start. The minutes are starting to add up though, especially with Cole, and I think we are seeing some fatigue. Hurley has to manage minutes better so players are fresh at the end of the game and the end of the season.
 
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uconngb said:
His leash for AJ and Whaley is wayyyyy too long. Start Hawkins over AJ and give him as long a leash. Do something. Anything.
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This. Start Hawk.

For all AJ does, the mistakes and turnovers are driving me crazy. Tell AJ he's the backup point guard, 6th man that brings energy off the bench. Move Gaffney off the ball and tell him to attack the rim like he did this past game. Improves spacing in our 1st unit and better defined rules for AJ/Gaffney in the second unit.
 
nelsonmuntz said:
It honestly doesn't matter who we start. The minutes are starting to add up though, especially with Cole, and I think we are seeing some fatigue. Hurley has to manage minutes better so players are fresh at the end of the game and the end of the season.
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Except the data suggests this isn't true. Cole is avergaging the minutes of most upperclassmen star players. In no way is he being overextended. Particularly in the Big East. For example, Nova has two guys who average more minutes per game. For fun, I checked how many minutes El-Amin played his last year. Low and behold, it was quite similar to Cole this year, albeit a minute less.
 
Why are we worried about the offense? I've been told the defense is more of an issue.

the-boneyard.com

hard hedge

Contrary to popular belief I do think this is a solid defensive philosophy. Whaley is very good at it but Sanogo is not and gets dumb, soft fouls as a result. After doing this for almost 2 seasons and as a result Sanogo often getting into foul trouble the time to give it up is here. We can't not...
the-boneyard.com the-boneyard.com
 
bigknight3 said:
This. Start Hawk.

For all AJ does, the mistakes and turnovers are driving me crazy. Tell AJ he's the backup point guard, 6th man that brings energy off the bench. Move Gaffney off the ball and tell him to attack the rim like he did this past game. Improves spacing in our 1st unit and better defined rules for AJ/Gaffney in the second unit.
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Are you going off of first half Gaffney or second half Gaffney? Jackson is the only other point guard on the team. Start Hawkins over Whaley. No point starting two centers especially when Whaley has no offensive game. Jackson has also made more three's in conference than Gaffney. Hawkins or even Polley should start over Whaley
 
djct1999 said:
Except the data suggests this isn't true. Cole is avergaging the minutes of most upperclassmen star players. In no way is he being overextended. Particularly in the Big East. For example, Nova has two guys who average more minutes per game. For fun, I checked how many minutes El-Amin played his last year. Low and behold, it was quite similar to Cole this year, albeit a minute less.
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A few things:

1) UConn is playing 6 games in 15 days.

2) El-Amin played over 20 years ago.

3) Cole has the ball in his hand on every possession, and is checking the other team's point guard. He is not just standing around as a decoy.

Doesn't matter what I think. Hurley is one tantrum away from playing Cole almost the entire game for the rest of the season, so we will find out if you are right and Cole doesn't need breaks.
 
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nelsonmuntz said:
A few things:

1) UConn is playing 6 games in 15 days.

2) El-Amin played over 20 years ago.

3) Cole has the ball in his hand on every possession, and is checking the other team's point guard. He is not just standing around as a decoy.

Doesn't matter what I think. Hurley is one tantrum away from playing Cole almost the entire game for the rest of the season, so we will find out if you are right and Cole doesn't need breaks.
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I never said Cole doesn’t need breaks. I also never said Cole should play the entire game. I simply said that if you look at his minutes played, almost all big East teams have at least 1 guy who averages more minutes than him. Some teams have two. So to suggest he is tired is subjective and you have no data to prove your point. 32.9 minutes for a player like Cole in today’s college game is quite normal.
 
uconngb said:
His leash for AJ and Whaley is wayyyyy too long. Start Hawkins over AJ and give him as long a leash. Do something. Anything.
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But there’s no solution. Hawkins isn’t ready and Polley is not consistent enough to be starting. You have to hope AJ and Whaley play better because they’re 2 of our best 5 guys.
 
We should’ve played this game at Gampel, no reason why we should be playing any game anywhere else.
 
C'mon, guys. Everyone here knows conclusively that the starting lineup needs to be Diggins, Gaffney, Akok, Springs, and Johnson.
 
Hurley wanted this defensive orientated, long, tough, athletic team, like the 2019 Florida State team we played. He got it and they’re competitive and no one wants to play us. The glaring problem is that the team can’t make enough shots. Starting 3 non-shooters in today’s game is way against the grain. He didn’t prioritize shot making enough. Starting Hawkins or Polley over Whaley or Jackson would be giving up on Hurley’s vision. He speaks about playing to our identity a lot. Better hope we turn into the best defensive team in the country to make up for what we lack on offense.
 
UcannUconn said:
Hurley wanted this defensive orientated, long, tough, athletic team, like the 2019 Florida State team we played. He got it and they’re competitive and no one wants to play us. The glaring problem is that the team can’t make enough shots. Starting 3 non-shooters in today’s game is way against the grain. He didn’t prioritize shot making enough. Starting Hawkins or Polley over Whaley or Jackson would be giving up on Hurley’s vision. He speaks about playing to our identity a lot. Better hope we turn into the best defensive team in the country to make up for what we lack on offense.
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Good offense beats good defense most days in college hoops.
 
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UcannUconn said:
Hurley wanted this defensive orientated, long, tough, athletic team, like the 2019 Florida State team we played. He got it and they’re competitive and no one wants to play us. The glaring problem is that the team can’t make enough shots. Starting 3 non-shooters in today’s game is way against the grain. He didn’t prioritize shot making enough. Starting Hawkins or Polley over Whaley or Jackson would be giving up on Hurley’s vision. He speaks about playing to our identity a lot. Better hope we turn into the best defensive team in the country to make up for what we lack on offense.
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I don't know for sure, but my guess would be the +/- with Hawkins, Gaffney, and or Polley on the floor isn't great. If we continued to play man to man, the other team would simply isolate any of these three one on one and take it to the hoop at will. I feel the same frustration as most do. The reality is, Hurley hands are tied. He has to start the guys he has been because they still, even with their offensive limitations, give us the best chance to win.
 
uconngb said:
I’ll say it for the millionth time. If we keep trotting that starting lineup out there, we will keep putting ourselves in a position to lose. Whaley and Jackson give nothing on offense. I don’t care about their “intangibles”. Neither of them are consistently productive enough to deserve the minutes they are getting. It’s the same pattern just about every game, especially against good teams. Gotta score to win. These slow starts doom us just about every game.
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Whaley can contribute on offensive. He has many put backs and when free he can shoot it. He should shoot more. Other than giving the crowd a rise by one of his thunderous put backs, I feel he gives nothing. How many games ago did Whaley knock down 25? When Polley gets uncorked he is the same.
 
Huskyforlife said:
But there’s no solution. Hawkins isn’t ready and Polley is not consistent enough to be starting. You have to hope AJ and Whaley play better because they’re 2 of our best 5 guys.
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I get the conundrum. But by now, most sane people would have tried something different just for the sake of trying something different. The lineup isn’t working.
 
djct1999 said:
I don't know for sure, but my guess would be the +/- with Hawkins, Gaffney, and or Polley on the floor isn't great. If we continued to play man to man, the other team would simply isolate any of these three one on one and take it to the hoop at will. I feel the same frustration as most do. The reality is, Hurley hands are tied. He has to start the guys he has been because they still, even with their offensive limitations, give us the best chance to win.
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Hurley put all of his shooting eggs in one basket with Polley, despite knowing he isn’t a good shooter. So we struck out in the transfer portal. And to no one’s surprise here, he hasn’t panned out or been dependable. Hawkins was supposed to provide similar production/efficiency to Bouknight’s freshman year. That hasn’t panned out.

I think sometimes Hurley looks at our team with rose colored glasses. Thinks we’re better than we actually are.
 
nelsonmuntz said:
It honestly doesn't matter who we start. The minutes are starting to add up though, especially with Cole, and I think we are seeing some fatigue. Hurley has to manage minutes better so players are fresh at the end of the game and the end of the season.
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Arguably, it was difficult to manage the minutes last game...all the freaking foul trouble.

But overall, you are correct. Cole is whooped...u can see it when he rolls out in the second half. Martin too. It's like their bodies slow down until the 6 minute mark in the 2nd half.
 
uconngb said:
I’ll say it for the millionth time. If we keep trotting that starting lineup out there, we will keep putting ourselves in a position to lose. Whaley and Jackson give nothing on offense. I don’t care about their “intangibles”. Neither of them are consistently productive enough to deserve the minutes they are getting. It’s the same pattern just about every game, especially against good teams. Gotta score to win. These slow starts doom us just about every game.
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LOL. We have been a top 15-30 team all season with that “broken” lineup.
 
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UofCT said:
LOL. We have been a top 15-30 team all season with that “broken” lineup.
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Most UConn fans aspire to being better than 15-30. Glad you are happy with it.
 
uconngb said:
Most UConn fans aspire to being better than 15-30. Glad you are happy with it.
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In addition, we are 2-4 against teams with winning records in the conf and have lost a slew of winnable games because our coach is unwilling to adjust. So others can be happy that we’ve been a top 15-30 team all year beating up on Butler and Georgetown. I’m more worried about what lies ahead.
 
CTBasketball said:
Good offense beats good defense most days in college hoops.
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Exactly. Good coaches will scheme on offense to use a teams aggressiveness on defense against them, which is exactly what’s happening to us.

Another thing we have going against us is that if you’re poor in the half court you can make up for it in transition, like 2019 Florida state. But we don’t have the best makeup for transition scoring either. Martin and Jackson can be too erratic and turn it over or foul. Sanogo isnt a factor. RJ prefers a slower pace. Just a poor offensive makeup to this team top to bottom. Side note: I’d really like to see Polley take more rhythm threes in transition.
 
UcannUconn said:
Exactly. Good coaches will scheme on offense to use a teams aggressiveness on defense against them, which is exactly what’s happening to us.

Another thing we have going against us is that if you’re poor in the half court you can make up for it in transition, like 2019 Florida state. But we don’t have the best makeup for transition scoring either. Martin and Jackson can be too erratic and turn it over or foul. Sanogo isnt a factor. RJ prefers a slower pace. Just a poor offensive makeup to this team top to bottom. Side note: I’d really like to see Polley take more rhythm threes in transition.
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Yeah these are good takes. The offensive floor to the team is very sporatic.

Every team knows our offense goes thru Sanogo and when he isn’t feeding they have a good shot to shut us down. Especially when they have good perimeter defenders, it makes it very hard for Cole and Martin to score.
 
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