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I'm proud at how hard they fought today. They had SU on the ropes but couldn't deliver that knock-out blow. Here's my overall thoughts on the game:
I thought UConn rebounded very well and didn't give up 2nd chances that they had been throughout the season. I hope that continues into the NCAA tournament
I thought they showed solid player and ball movement much of the time, but they did have some bad stretches, especially during that last couple minutes, though the game was slowing slipping out of reach before that point.
Where the game was lost was with the problem that has plagued them most, finishing. They simply missed a ton of make-able shots. It was a problem with just about the entire team. Oriakhi (1-5) missed an easy put back early on. Lamb (4-9) missed missed a few open looks and should have gotten more than just 9 shots. Without looking at the stats, it seems when he takes less than 10 shots this team usually loses. Olander (2-7) had a whole bunch of wide open looks. If he just hits one or two of those the outcome might have been different. Bazz (5-17) missed his share, but he tends to force shots, probably feeling he has to make things happen when he sees his teammates missing good looks. IMO, the two players that had the biggest impact in this area were Boatright (2-9) and Scoe (0-6). While Southerland came up huge during that late SU run knocking down 3 Js, two of them 3s, Boatright and Scoe missed most of their shots throughout the game. They were a combined 0-8 from 3. They each knock down one 3 and we win that game. It's really that simple. Scoe has been a key ingredient during the past few games. If he had contributed like he has we would still be playing tomorrow night.
Note that I'm not blaming any one player. It was just a complete lack of knocking down make-able shots throughout the game, especially in the first half. There was a stretch where I replayed part of the first half during half-time and counted by the half-way point about 7 misses on make-able shots. Again, just convert two of them and it's a W instead of an L. Missed shots happen, but they probably had about 15 or so where you should convert at least 50% of those types of looks and they got zero.
If felt they defended well, though SU didn't execute or shoot the ball very well themselves. They didn't look like one of the top teams in the nation, but credit UConn's defense for part of that. I think Joseph's finger injury really helped. Also Fab Melo's constant mental mistakes worked in our favor.
I felt the officiating if anything went more our way than theirs, something that I haven't seen much this season, though we seemed to get favorable calls in the Pitt, WVU and SU games. Makes me wonder if someone wanted a possible run at 5 in 5 days like last year for TV ratings. Probably not, but just wondering.
Bazz has looked a lot more healthy these past few games, though he looked a tad tired at the end of the game. I wonder if Boatright picking up those early fouls and having to sit a long time, took its toll on Bazz. He played 38 minutes.
I thought Lamb stood around a lot, especially during that last part of the game, but he played a full 40 minutes. Granted against the zone it's not like you're running all over the place, but I was surprised they didn't run more stuff for him. They ran one really nice play where they moved him behind AD and did a nice little pick-and-pop for an open J. Unfortunately Lamb missed that shot which I believe would have stretched a 1 point lead (maybe a tie or a small deficit...I can't remember) to 4. They never went back to that play. The only time he seemed to touch the ball late was when they gave it to him well beyond the arc with SU's zone D well positioned. That's not running plays for him.
I want to watch the last 10 minutes of the 2nd half to see what went wrong. It just seemed to come down to SU making more plays than UConn. If the Huskies had simply converted a couple more of their shots and were back in solid defensive position, the game might have gone differently. Let's hope they can build off this game and have a nice little run in the NCAAs.
I thought UConn rebounded very well and didn't give up 2nd chances that they had been throughout the season. I hope that continues into the NCAA tournament
I thought they showed solid player and ball movement much of the time, but they did have some bad stretches, especially during that last couple minutes, though the game was slowing slipping out of reach before that point.
Where the game was lost was with the problem that has plagued them most, finishing. They simply missed a ton of make-able shots. It was a problem with just about the entire team. Oriakhi (1-5) missed an easy put back early on. Lamb (4-9) missed missed a few open looks and should have gotten more than just 9 shots. Without looking at the stats, it seems when he takes less than 10 shots this team usually loses. Olander (2-7) had a whole bunch of wide open looks. If he just hits one or two of those the outcome might have been different. Bazz (5-17) missed his share, but he tends to force shots, probably feeling he has to make things happen when he sees his teammates missing good looks. IMO, the two players that had the biggest impact in this area were Boatright (2-9) and Scoe (0-6). While Southerland came up huge during that late SU run knocking down 3 Js, two of them 3s, Boatright and Scoe missed most of their shots throughout the game. They were a combined 0-8 from 3. They each knock down one 3 and we win that game. It's really that simple. Scoe has been a key ingredient during the past few games. If he had contributed like he has we would still be playing tomorrow night.
Note that I'm not blaming any one player. It was just a complete lack of knocking down make-able shots throughout the game, especially in the first half. There was a stretch where I replayed part of the first half during half-time and counted by the half-way point about 7 misses on make-able shots. Again, just convert two of them and it's a W instead of an L. Missed shots happen, but they probably had about 15 or so where you should convert at least 50% of those types of looks and they got zero.
If felt they defended well, though SU didn't execute or shoot the ball very well themselves. They didn't look like one of the top teams in the nation, but credit UConn's defense for part of that. I think Joseph's finger injury really helped. Also Fab Melo's constant mental mistakes worked in our favor.
I felt the officiating if anything went more our way than theirs, something that I haven't seen much this season, though we seemed to get favorable calls in the Pitt, WVU and SU games. Makes me wonder if someone wanted a possible run at 5 in 5 days like last year for TV ratings. Probably not, but just wondering.
Bazz has looked a lot more healthy these past few games, though he looked a tad tired at the end of the game. I wonder if Boatright picking up those early fouls and having to sit a long time, took its toll on Bazz. He played 38 minutes.
I thought Lamb stood around a lot, especially during that last part of the game, but he played a full 40 minutes. Granted against the zone it's not like you're running all over the place, but I was surprised they didn't run more stuff for him. They ran one really nice play where they moved him behind AD and did a nice little pick-and-pop for an open J. Unfortunately Lamb missed that shot which I believe would have stretched a 1 point lead (maybe a tie or a small deficit...I can't remember) to 4. They never went back to that play. The only time he seemed to touch the ball late was when they gave it to him well beyond the arc with SU's zone D well positioned. That's not running plays for him.
I want to watch the last 10 minutes of the 2nd half to see what went wrong. It just seemed to come down to SU making more plays than UConn. If the Huskies had simply converted a couple more of their shots and were back in solid defensive position, the game might have gone differently. Let's hope they can build off this game and have a nice little run in the NCAAs.
