Still Need More From PGs

[MexicoHusky]

I think it's there. Hidden. Waiting to come out with just more practice.

I'm not asking for much. Just a basic fastbreak. Consistently lead by our PGs.

PG pushing the ball down the middle of the floor. A wing or two a few steps ahead. Pg dribbles to the foul line and either shoots or finds a wing for a dunk. Preferably the dunk. Nothing crazy. Just basic basketball stuff.

We've got wings who can finish in Bouk and Martin. It will considerably help both their careers in the form of more highlight reel dunks.

At this point I'm blaming our lack of an organized and consistent break on Covid and minimal practice. It will be there later in the year. It has to be. I'm confident.

 

[bazz&boujee]

We are riding or dying with Cole at PG. Anyone else bringing the ball up makes you hold your breath. He’s a confident, strong dribbler and probably too confident in his scoring abilities but at least he shoots like he believes the ball is going in. Too much hesitation from other players. Good shooting nights from 3 will come. Not much guard depth, so him and Bouk playing tons of minutes will be recipe. He’ll be fine.

 

[navery12]

I think UConn fans (myself included) have really been spoiled by the PGs we've had. Cole had 8 points, 6 assists, 2 turnovers on 3-7 shooting while locking up DePaul's best player. Maybe I want a few more points out of him but if he gave us a similar statline the rest of the season I'd have a hard time complaining about that

 

[Huskyforlife]

I'm afraid there isn't much more to get outve them. It's our weak spot, but we can make up for it on the wings, and down low.

 

[Kenny11]

I think it's there. Hidden. Waiting to come out with just more practice.

I'm not asking for much. Just a basic fastbreak. Consistently lead by our PGs.

PG pushing the ball down the middle of the floor. A wing or two a few steps ahead. Pg dribbles to the foul line and either shoots or finds a wing for a dunk. Preferably the dunk. Nothing crazy. Just basic basketball stuff.

We've got wings who can finish in Bouk and Martin. It will considerably help both their careers in the form of more highlight reel dunks.

At this point I'm blaming our lack of an organized and consistent break on Covid and minimal practice. It will be there later in the year. It has to be. I'm confident.

I agree with everything here except shooting a foul line pull up on a fast break. I do remember when coaches used to teach that though.

 

[Chin Diesel]

I think UConn fans (myself included) have really been spoiled by the PGs we've had. Cole had 8 points, 6 assists, 2 turnovers on 3-7 shooting while locking up DePaul's best player. Maybe I want a few more points out of him but if he gave us a similar statline the rest of the season I'd have a hard time complaining about that

Two straight games of having to defend a pretty darn good PG and he has done well both times. That's getting dangerously close to becoming a trend.

 

[rip7774]

It's crazy how spoiled we've been with terrific PG play, even in the dark years recently. Staff has been incredible so far, but surprised this is what we're stuck with at PG. Incredibly timid or Donnell Beverly levels athlete in our group. (Donnell was really useful as a reserve). We get nothing really created out of that position to set things up, so bizarre as a Husky fan watching for nearly 30 years when the offense typically ran from the PG creating and/or scoring. Really like to see Gaffney take charge and think he can, but seems contrary to his nature.

Kinda surprised this is what we're going to have this year, when the rest of the team looks really good, almost like a Costanza opposite of some other recent teams where the PG was a stud and the rest kinda meh.

Kudos to Josh, really showing fire and giving good minutes. Loved that sequence where he refused to give it up. Looks like he's having fun again, that's how you play your best. He could change the narrative for a lot of fans with his inspired play.

Love Martin, doesn't wow you with any one thing, but the full package is really, really good. Super smart player.

We haven't even had great Whaley yet due to foul trouble. One of the all-time easiest Huskies to get excited about/root for.

Missed the first few minutes, it looked like on Yahoo that Sanogo started but I never saw him in there???

 

[InKembaITrust]

I'm just happy we finally have a team that can go 9 players deep where anyone can score double-digit points on any given night.

 

[UConnSwag11]

I'm afraid there isn't much more to get outve them. It's our weak spot, but we can make up for it on the wings, and down low.

Gaffney started out slow last year and played very well down the stretch. Hopefully he can get back to that late season form

 

[UConnSwag11]

We need more scorers than Bouknight. It seems that Cole is that guy right now. No one else besides those two can consistently score or get their own shots

 

[UConnSwag11]

We need more scorers than Bouknight. It seems that Cole is that guy right now. No one else besides those two can consistently score or get their own shots

Martin seems he can be that guy but we’ll see as the season goes on

 

[HuskyFich]

I think we’re going to see a lot of Bouk pushing the offense. He dribbled the ball up the floor a ton yesterday. It prevents the opponent from face guarding him and double teaming him off ball screens, which will give everyone, including Bouk, more freedom to find space and score.

I thought Cole was great defensively tonight and gave us a couple crafty scores early. Gaffney needs to starting picking up the speed and aggressiveness, but we shouldn’t need 16 from our PG to dominate games, and that was evident tonight.

great game.

 

[formerlurker]

Martin seems he can be that guy but we’ll see as the season goes on

Rothstein proclaimed him to be Robin to Bouk's Batman.

 

[mauconnfan]

Cole was solid again, no issues with his game at all. Hopefully he just keeps gaining confidence and gets even better.

Gaff was terrible seems to be losing confidence as we speak. Needs to get a lot better in order to impact this team.

Adams had a nice game for the most part. Made the early 3s as needed.

 

[elmcityboy]

yeah, i thought cole did exactly what he needed to do in this game. nice bounce-back.

gaff has had back-to-back rough games. he only had two turnovers in the box score, but his two missed shots were a strip and a really weak layup that got blocked.

 

[djct1999]

I liked what I saw from Cole. Always plays within the game, makes his open shots, plays lockdown d, and gives 100% the entire game. If he gives us what he did last night, UConn will win a lot of games.

 

[Huskybass]

I thought Cole did a pretty good job last night. He even showed a little swagger, which was nice to see. 8 points and 6 assists combined with real good D in a 21 point win seems fine to me.

 

[businesslawyer]

I think UConn fans (myself included) have really been spoiled by the PGs we've had. Cole had 8 points, 6 assists, 2 turnovers on 3-7 shooting while locking up DePaul's best player. Maybe I want a few more points out of him but if he gave us a similar statline the rest of the season I'd have a hard time complaining about that

We don't need anything more from him than he gave last night. 8 points on 7 shots, playing like a point with 6 assists to 2 turnovers, is great. I don't want him being our second highest scorer, because it will take far too many shots for that to happen.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

Gaffney went to the rim on three straight possessions and had two shots sent back and a turnover.

Through 5 games he seems to be a guy who got too big in the offseason and it’s messing with his movement.

 

[Kitaman]

Cole was solid again, no issues with his game at all. Hopefully he just keeps gaining confidence and gets even better.

Gaff was terrible seems to be losing confidence as we speak. Needs to get a lot better in order to impact this team.

Adams had a nice game for the most part. Made the early 3s as needed.

I wonder if Gaffney's demotion to 2nd string is affecting him. I'm sure he came in this season expecting to pair nicely with Bouk (and Akok) but now with Cole starting his immediate role has changed.

Some players need some time to adjust to such actions, and Gaffney may need time.

Remember he moved AG to the bench last year, so the kid can ball.

I was a jock, and I know I would have felt humiliated (l loved starting) especially as a young kid who lost a starting position on a good team. A team I expected to lead. Compound that with no fans to lift him up during games, he's in a tough spot. Hopefully the team cheers his successes and encourages him after erring.

Just saying being demoted can hurt and affect your play if being starter is your thing. It can speak to your confidence statement above. Errors seem more magnified making one scared to make mistakes, uncertainty of decision making (fatal for a PG), and playing soft to remain on the court are some of the consequences players have after losing their starting position.

One or two breakout games should 'fix' him because he is critical to our success and our future.

 

[imno1]

I can’t wait for Coach to roll out a lineup of Cole, Bouk, Martin, Akok, and Whaley.

 

[mauconnfan]

I wonder if Gaffney's demotion to 2nd string is affecting him. I'm sure he came in this season expecting to pair nicely with Bouk (and Akok) but now with Cole starting his immediate role has changed.

Some players need some time to adjust to such actions, and Gaffney may need time.

Remember he moved AG to the bench last year, so the kid can ball.

I was a jock, and I know I would have felt humiliated (l loved starting) especially as a young kid who lost a starting position on a good team. A team I expected to lead. Compound that with no fans to lift him up during games, he's in a tough spot. Hopefully the team cheers his successes and encourages him after erring.

Just saying being demoted can hurt and affect your play if being starter is your thing. It can speak to your confidence statement above. Errors seem more magnified making one scared to make mistakes, uncertainty of decision making (fatal for a PG), and playing soft to remain on the court are some of the consequences players have after losing their starting position.

One or two breakout games should 'fix' him because he is critical to our success and our future.

I hope that’s not the case but it could be a good point. He better be stronger mentally in prep for a team roll at this point. I have to say while he “moved” AG to the bench he wasn’t the best of the 2 during the winning stretch last year as AG adjusted to the bench rather nicely as a good teammate should. Was he the more conservative PG yeah but unlike many here I didn’t think that last years guy would be much help to this team unless there was improvement, which so far is falling short. His defense is terrible once again multiple times last night beat badly off the dribble. I mean I’m nervous about his ability but I’m still hoping maybe he just needs to get some confidence to move forward as we need him to be a better player backup or not.

 

[Watchdog]

Gaffney went to the rim on three straight possessions and had two shots sent back and a turnover.

Through 5 games he seems to be a guy who got too big in the offseason and it’s messing with his movement.

He has looked really weak with the ball. Trouble penetrating without turning it over/or getting his layup blocked, but I'm not sure it's due to his size. It may be his nature to not be aggressive or maybe he isn't aggressive because he knows he can't handle the ball well enough.

A lot of people here laughed at the Syracuse fans who said they were better off with Kadary Richmond than AJ. Who knows in the long run, but so far KR is clearly a major plus for them. 6'5" PG who seems to have the ball on a string, with no outside shot, but drives inside at will to score or dish to an open man.

Stats to date for JG, RJ (5 games) and KR (7 games):
JG: 25.6 M, 6.8 PT, 3 R, 1.8 A, 1.0 TO, 1 ST, FG 31%, 30.8%(3) and FT 80%
RJ: 29.8 M, 10.6 PT, 1.8 R, 3.8 A, 2.2 TO, 1.4 ST, FG 33.3%, 34.5(3)and FT 78.6%
KR: 26 M, 8.6 PT, 4.4 R, 4.1 A, 1.9 TO, 2.6 ST, FG 47.4%, 22.2(3) and FT 75.9%

 

[ThabeetDown]

I posted this in the highlights thread but I’ll post this here too. Still need better offense out of the PGs but under Hurley’s half court offense the point forward is more of a key than the lead guard.

Obviously the Bouk steal-behind the back dribble-windmill was the play of the game but how about the give and go with him and Josh to the corner Martin 3? Early 2nd half. That to me was one of the better plays I’ve seen from this team in the half court in years.

Josh has improved a ton as the top of the key as a point forward, especially since Whaley has been on the bench a lot with fouls. Less fumbling up there and his bball IQ seems improved. Screens still need some work.

Would love to see Martin up there in that role when Akok is back (the center typically takes that role so the others can stretch the floor — obviously Akok is the lone player who can play center and stretch the floor). The team really started clicking last year when Whaley excelled in that role.

Having someone in that role is the key to Hurley’s half court offense as it sets up everything. When it works as you saw last night that’s how they get the corner 3s. Sanogo can set screens but his hands and passing aren’t close to good enough yet for this role. Wouldn’t mind seeing what Akok would do with that role either — with or without Martin on the court. I think if you can interchange both of them as the point forward it makes it that much harder to defend.

There is a lot of gripe about the PG play on offense (and rightfully so) but if you watch Hurleys half court offense it relies on the point forward more than a PG — think the Nuggets with Jokic for the NBA fans. PGs running the offense needs to be better (especially when Sanogo is on the court) but if Josh and Whaley are capable as the point forward then you don’t really need to rely on the PGs as running the offense as much and they can be more shooters and scorers than facilitators.