Still struggling closing out games.

[Palatine]

Kind of glossed over in the SHU game. We missed three front ends of one-and-ones (that's all of them) in the final couple of minutes. Cole, our best foul shooter, missed two of them. And Cole also fouled a three point shooter in the last minute or so. In a closer game, that's losing basketball.

Even worse, Cole, who Hurley constantly says is the player responsible for leading the team, was committing the errors. We are long past the time to clean up these lapses. Some may believe that these ever repeating mistakes at the end of games are random. More likely they come from either a lack of focus or are the result of pressure.

There has to be some way to prepare the team for these moments. But whatever we have been doing is not paying dividends.

 

[Vancat]

I chalked it up to him being gassed.

 

[coachn]

Good topic. Needs improvment.

 

[Tenspro2002]

There was not much pressure in this situation. Outcome was never seriously in doubt.

 

[navery12]

They did a great closing out the game from 5 minutes to 1 minute, not so great the last minute. For most of the season it was the last 5 minutes being all bad, I'll take the improvement

 

[Jaydumo20]

I appreciate this post. We can't crush them on the threads in losses and make believe everything is fixed when they win. There are clear holes that seem to make games more challenging than they should be. But this team would be nowhere without RJC. I know you'd agree with that. Just pointing out how valuable he is on top of some late game screw ups

 

[BrassBonanza]

Rj played hurt the entire 2nd half. He hurt his knee in the first half, went down behind the play due to a collision with someone on the Hall. Was down for 3/4 seconds, got up limped back and drew a charge on that defensive possession.


I watched him come out of the locker room and he had a substantial limp in the layup line, he clearly was able to still play in the 2nd, but no way was he 100%.

 

[microfich]

There is the closing out when we're fighting for a win, when we're ahead and draining the clock under 4 min and when we need ball handlers and foul shooting to ensure the win under 1 min. All very different.
Plenty of reasons/excuses. Improvement, yes. Dependable, no. Fact remains.

 

[Palatine]

There is the closing out when we're fighting for a win, when we're ahead and draining the clock under 4 min and when we need ball handlers and foul shooting to ensure the win under 1 min. All very different.
Plenty of reasons/excuses. Improvement, yes. Dependable, no. Fact remains.

That is all true. There is a difference. And to be fair, we have improved somewhat over the course of the season.

Still, it would be nice to see them, stay focused, make critical foul shots, and play strong defense without fouling at the end of games. Great teams execute at the finish.

 

[aburks41]

Rj played hurt the entire 2nd half. He hurt his knee in the first half, went down behind the play due to a collision with someone on the Hall. Was down for 3/4 seconds, got up limped back and drew a charge on that defensive possession.


I watched him come out of the locker room and he had a substantial limp in the layup line, he clearly was able to still play in the 2nd, but no way was he 100%.

He was limping the entire St Johns game too. He's probably been dealing with a knee injury since Xavier but we can't really afford to play Gaffney more minutes than he's getting, he just isn't good enough to even be replacement level

 

[NJHusky]

Subbing O for D with Sanogo out and Polley in mattered. He was the only one to hit FT

 

[businesslawyer]

People want this to be a great team. And then get mad when it isn't. It is not a great team. It's a good team, that has the possibility of being really good on a night when everything comes together. If you want to not miss the front end of three straight one and ones down the stretch, that would require more depth. If Polley had been having a better game, he could have been on the floor for Sanogo earlier then he came in (to finally make two shots). If Gaffney could give us more during the game, Cole could play 2 or 3 fewer minutes and have more gas in the tank at the end.

This is not a great team, at the level that we became accustomed to. Not enough depth and even our best players have more flaws or limitations then we'd like. Not enough consistent outside shooting. And, as discussed in another good thread today, our best five players aren't really a good fit offensively. So I'll settle for seeing how many games we can win, instead of worrying about whether we look or play like a great team while winning.

 

[MexicoHusky]

The potential turnover at the end of the St John's game was more concerning to me. Tough for me to admit, but that should of been a turnover and a St John's bucket. I think we would of been down one at that point. That really can't happen.

 

[Mike1984]

Kind of glossed over in the SHU game. We missed three front ends of one-and-ones (that's all of them) in the final couple of minutes. Cole, our best foul shooter, missed two of them. And Cole also fouled a three point shooter in the last minute or so. In a closer game, that's losing basketball.

Even worse, Cole, who Hurley constantly says is the player responsible for leading the team, was committing the errors. We are long past the time to clean up these lapses. Some may believe that these ever repeating mistakes at the end of games are random. More likely they come from either a lack of focus or are the result of pressure.

There has to be some way to prepare the team for these moments. But whatever we have been doing is not paying dividends.

I’m sure they shoot plenty of free throws in practice, which is preparing them for making them in a game. What would you suggest would be a good way to prepare a team to make free throws?
Yes the foul was stupid, that shouldn’t of happened but it did. I’m sure Hurley was telling them not to foul a shooter. Whaley’s foul at the end wasn’t as bad due to the fact that they weren’t in the bonus yet, so it didn’t hurt.
All in all the team did a good job of closing out this game. Seton Hall made a run and UConn responded everytime. In the beginning of the year we probably would have lost that game.

 

[UofCT]

Kind of glossed over in the SHU game. We missed three front ends of one-and-ones (that's all of them) in the final couple of minutes. Cole, our best foul shooter, missed two of them. And Cole also fouled a three point shooter in the last minute or so. In a closer game, that's losing basketball.

Even worse, Cole, who Hurley constantly says is the player responsible for leading the team, was committing the errors. We are long past the time to clean up these lapses. Some may believe that these ever repeating mistakes at the end of games are random. More likely they come from either a lack of focus or are the result of pressure.

There has to be some way to prepare the team for these moments. But whatever we have been doing is not paying dividends.

The only solution is for Gaffney to wake up and start contributing so Cole could be fresh by the end of the game.

 

[bendm]

march is 1.5 weeks away...we are who we are until next season. how far we go in the tournys depends on avoiding bad matchups. fingers crossed for a 3 seed opposite Nova and a 6 seed in the big dance.

 

[Marat]

The only solution is for Gaffney to wake up and start contributing so Cole could be fresh by the end of the game.

Yep. And we all agree that Diggins will be a non factor for rest of year, so would be nice for JG to contribute.

 

[UCOnions]

There was not much pressure in this situation. Outcome was never seriously in doubt.

In this situation, I think its pressure in terms of overarching pressure in getting the program back where its supposed to be.

 

[PlayItLeo]

In Cole's defense, he did hit those two late free throws against St. John's that gave us a 3-point lead with 12 seconds to go, and he's still our second best FT shooter on the team at 86% (which is about 12% better than our team average). Give Hurley credit for knowing to sub Polley in and getting him the ball to draw a foul, since he's shooting 90% from the stripe.

 

[UConn3432]

Winning players make winning plays and don't make losing plays.
Losing players make winning plays and also make losing plays.

It's easy to overlook the losing plays when someone makes enough winning plays at different points in the game.

We've had so many winning players at point guard over the years that we want RJ to be the next one so badly, but he's not. I still enjoy watching him and appreciate his toughness, I just know that he'll never take the program where we want him to.

 

[mauconnfan]

Rj played hurt the entire 2nd half. He hurt his knee in the first half, went down behind the play due to a collision with someone on the Hall. Was down for 3/4 seconds, got up limped back and drew a charge on that defensive possession.


I watched him come out of the locker room and he had a substantial limp in the layup line, he clearly was able to still play in the 2nd, but no way was he 100%.

All good but he is missing FTs at clutch time and in all reality has for 2 years in other games. I get being gassed but they’re free throws. Teams practice at the end of practice on FTs as well so they’re used to shooting them when tired.

 

[Hi-Low]

The key unknowns for success rest of year / BE & NCAA tournies will be imo

1) Ajax ability to run the point for stretches
2) Hawkins ramping up his scoring

 

[businesslawyer]

Winning players make winning plays and don't make losing plays.
Losing players make winning plays and also make losing plays.

It's easy to overlook the losing plays when someone makes enough winning plays at different points in the game.

We've had so many winning players at point guard over the years that we want RJ to be the next one so badly, but he's not. I still enjoy watching him and appreciate his toughness, I just know that he'll never take the program where we want him to.

Donyell Marshall was a winning player. He didn't come up big one time when we needed him to. No one's season is undone because of one bad play or missed shot. If it happens consistently ....

 

[inWV]

The key unknowns for success rest of year / BE & NCAA tournies will be imo

1) Ajax ability to run the point for stretches
2) Hawkins ramping up his scoring

Jackson is playing more with the ball in his hands. If he can continue to level up on the ball handling, RJ can get some offense playing off the ball.

 

[UCfor3]

Donyell Marshall was a winning player. He didn't come up big one time when we needed him to. No one's season is undone because of one bad play or missed shot. If it happens consistently ....

You just gave me flashbacks to Da Meat Hook. I'm breaking out in a cold sweat.

 

[JustbrewitMan]

Kind of glossed over in the SHU game. We missed three front ends of one-and-ones (that's all of them) in the final couple of minutes. Cole, our best foul shooter, missed two of them. And Cole also fouled a three point shooter in the last minute or so. In a closer game, that's losing basketball.

Even worse, Cole, who Hurley constantly says is the player responsible for leading the team, was committing the errors. We are long past the time to clean up these lapses. Some may believe that these ever repeating mistakes at the end of games are random. More likely they come from either a lack of focus or are the result of pressure.

There has to be some way to prepare the team for these moments. But whatever we have been doing is not paying dividends.

Maybe we could look to the 2/8/22 Villanova-SJU game for some helpful hints from the masters on closing out games. Because we sure know that Villanova are the premier game closers...errr...wait...they actually almost blew a 20pt lead in the last 4:27 of the game, letting the Johnnies close to within 3 with 0:35 left.

I know your schtick is to be the "critical contrarian" but sometimes, you should try taking a break and enjoy the ride.

We are one of the best FT shooting teams in the BE. Sometimes, kids have a bad game.

 

[Pudge]

And then ... I did look: Rhoden did have 5 points at the 6 minute mark to go. Then scored 9 points in the remaining minutes. I think we suddenly drifted more on Defense of him. The one Three ball was heavily contested make. The 3 twos were a variety of scramble defense by UCONN. One foul line jumper. My impression is we were running our break in the last 6 minutes and scoring reasonably easy; then SH came back just as fast and we didn't break down into defensive stands and they found those last minutes easier scoring earlier in the shot clock.

 

[HooperScooper]

Rj played hurt the entire 2nd half. He hurt his knee in the first half, went down behind the play due to a collision with someone on the Hall. Was down for 3/4 seconds, got up limped back and drew a charge on that defensive possession.


I watched him come out of the locker room and he had a substantial limp in the layup line, he clearly was able to still play in the 2nd, but no way was he 100%.

Well this probably didn't help.

Late in Wednesday’s 70-65 win over Seton Hall, Tyrese Martin ran up to R.J Cole, wrapped his arms around Cole’s waist and hoisted the guard up in the air in celebration. Martin then dropped him with such force Cole felt like his ankles were shattering.

When UConn’s leading threesome of Adama Sanogo, Tyrese Martin and R.J. Cole are all firing, Huskies are tough to beat

Late in Wednesday’s 70-65 win over Seton Hall, Tyrese Martin ran up to R.J Cole, wrapped his arms around Cole’s waist and hoisted the guard up in the air in celebration. Martin then dro…

www.courant.com

 

[VAHuskyFan]

Folks have been complaining about our performance in close games (quoting performance in games decided by +/-5 points).

Well, we did what we needed to do to win a close game. If we’d done any more, it wouldn’t have been a close game.

 

[uconngb]

There was not much pressure in this situation. Outcome was never seriously in doubt.

So what does that mean?? If there was MORE pressure he would have made the shots?? that doesn't seem plausible. When you're 90% you are supposed to make those shots no matter what the situation.