Tacko Free Knights ThoughtZ™

[RichZ]

1. Watching this game gave me agita. Play good for a few minutes, then play like drek for a few, randomly sprinkle in a couple insanely athletic plays here and there, with a bonehead move every now and then. Repeat, recycle.
2. Since the first of the year, Whaley has been shooting FTs at 86.6% (26 of 30)
3. If we discount Aiyegbusi's airball heave at the end, we shot an even 50% from the field.
4. Bouk got involved in the first half for once! But then he kind of threw away his 1st half contributions before the break, and started over the in the 2nd. In the first 10 minutes of the game, Bouk had 2 rebounds (1 at each end) and went 2 for 2 from three. In the last 4-1/2 minutes or so of the first half, Bouk went 0 for 2 from the line and 0 for 2 from three, and had a foul, a turnover and one defensive board.
5. One of my favorite sequences from the recent string of good games came about 2/3 of the way through the 2nd half. It was the Whaley and Bouk show, with a little icing on the cake from Gaffney. UCF had trimmed a 15 point lead to 11, and had momentum going into the TV timeout at 7:33. Coming out of the TO, Whaley blocks a shot. Bouk gets the rebound and gets fouled. Sinks two. UCF misses a three. Bouk gets the rebound and drops the dime to Whaley. UCF makes a layup. Bouk gets fouled again. Makes two. 6:39 on the clock. Bouk had 4 points, 2 boards and an assist in less than a minute, and we have our 15 point cushion back. The game was effectively over at that point, but just to make sure, Jalen steals the ball and makes a season highlight film layup. Knights are dead at 71-54, with 6:29 left. The rest of the game was just a formality.
6. Gilbert did not shoot well, yet he played great. Solid D, 5 dimes and a couple boards. There were also a couple instances where he settled the team down and set up a play when things were on the verge of going wonky.
7. Gaffney had a very similar game to AG. Shot was off, but didn't try to do too much. Just played steady, pushed the team when needed, ate some clock when it was to our advantage.
8. Tough to decide who would be my choice for POG. When a couple players are very close in my mind, I usually resort to a simple arithmetic line score comparison, and by that measure, Vital's (P+R+A+S+B-F) totals 32 to edge Whaley's 18+11+1+1+2-2 for 31, but excitement-wise, I think I have to go with Mr. Whaley this time around. Very close though. If it was CV's Senior night, I would probably have gone the other way.
9. Statistically, we dominated, despite the uneven and sometimes sloppy play. Won all three shooting percentage columns as well as both O & D rebound totals, plus we doubled UCF or better on dimes steals and blocks, while committing fewer TOs and fouls.
10. Assisting on more than half our buckets is always a good thing, and we went for 55%.
11. I'm not a Carlton hater by any means, and know full well that we are going to need him against tall and bulky front lines, but we definitely play better ball with Isaiah on the floor than Josh. He's a better rebounder and when he catches the ball near the rim, 9 times out of 10 he's going to stuff it, while Josh is going to go for the lay-in. Seems to me that an awful lot of Josh's points come from tapping in or otherwise putting back his own missed layups.
12. There is no question in my mind that Bouk and Whaley have raised the excitement level in the building in recent home games. Regardless of which crummy network is broadcasting the game, the difference in the crowd noise is pronounced from earlier in league play.
13. Finally, a note for Seth G: As regards your feelings on our last head coach, mind your own @$##$% business, and keep your opinions to yourself. Your comparison to the Knight/Indiana relationship is moronic.

 

[spudzj6]

1. Watching this game gave me agita. Play good for a few minutes, then play like drek for a few, randomly sprinkle in a couple insanely athletic plays here and there, with a bonehead move every now and then. Repeat, recycle.
2. Since the first of the year, Whaley has been shooting FTs at 86.6% (26 of 30)
3. If we discount Aiyegbusi's airball heave at the end, we shot an even 50% from the field.
4. Bouk got involved in the first half for once! But then he kind of threw away his 1st half contributions before the break, and started over the in the 2nd. In the first 10 minutes of the game, Bouk had 2 rebounds (1 at each end) and went 2 for 2 from three. In the last 4-1/2 minutes or so of the first half, Bouk went 0 for 2 from the line and 0 for 2 from three, and had a foul, a turnover and one defensive board.
5. One of my favorite sequences from the recent string of good games came about 2/3 of the way through the 2nd half. It was the Whaley and Bouk show, with a little icing on the cake from Gaffney. UCF had trimmed a 15 point lead to 11, and had momentum going into the TV timeout at 7:33. Coming out of the TO, Whaley blocks a shot. Bouk gets the rebound and gets fouled. Sinks two. UCF misses a three. Bouk gets the rebound and drops the dime to Whaley. UCF makes a layup. Bouk gets fouled again. Makes two. 6:39 on the clock. Bouk had 4 points, 2 boards and an assist in less than a minute, and we have our 15 point cushion back. The game was effectively over at that point, but just to make sure, Jalen steals the ball and makes a season highlight film layup. Knights are dead at 71-54, with 6:29 left. The rest of the game was just a formality.
6. Gilbert did not shoot well, yet he played great. Solid D, 5 dimes and a couple boards. There were also a couple instances where he settled the team down and set up a play when things were on the verge of going wonky.
7. Gaffney had a very similar game to AG. Shot was off, but didn't try to do too much. Just played steady, pushed the team when needed, ate some clock when it was to our advantage.
8. Tough to decide who would be my choice for POG. When a couple players are very close in my mind, I usually resort to a simple arithmetic line score comparison, and by that measure, Vital's (P+R+A+S+B-F) totals 32 to edge Whaley's 18+11+1+1+2-2 for 31, but excitement-wise, I think I have to go with Mr. Whaley this time around. Very close though. If it was CV's Senior night, I would probably have gone the other way.
9. Statistically, we dominated, despite the uneven and sometimes sloppy play. Won all three shooting percentage columns as well as both O & D rebound totals, plus we doubled UCF or better on dimes steals and blocks, while committing fewer TOs and fouls.
10. Assisting on more than half our buckets is always a good thing, and we went for 55%.
11. I'm not a Carlton hater by any means, and know full well that we are going to need him against tall and bulky front lines, but we definitely play better ball with Isaiah on the floor than Josh. He's a better rebounder and when he catches the ball near the rim, 9 times out of 10 he's going to stuff it, while Josh is going to go for the lay-in. Seems to me that an awful lot of Josh's points come from tapping in or otherwise putting back his own missed layups.
12. There is no question in my mind that Bouk and Whaley have raised the excitement level in the building in recent home games. Regardless of which crummy network is broadcasting the game, the difference in the crowd noise is pronounced from earlier in league play.
13. Finally, a note for Seth G: As regards your feelings on our last head coach, mind your own @$##$% business, and keep your opinions to yourself. Your comparison to the Knight/Indiana relationship is moronic.

RE: 6 - Gilbert showed glimpses of what he had pre-first injury/pre-MSU injury games - vision. I think having better spacing on the floor and the dose of humility he took this year opened up his eyes to fill the role DH set for him. The one play where he didnt pass to a wide open CV for a corner 3 and found Whaley open for a stuff was beautiful. Vital was frustrated at first but saw that AG knew what he was doing as the play developed. That smirk he had afterwards said it all. Think he's starting to enjoy things again. Having said that, it was against a pretty dismal defensive team. But anything to get his juices flowing again.

RE: 13 - spot on. there is no comparion the knight/Indiana. how long did it take for those wounds to heal? and you want this one to magically go from full on death blows to healed in one summer? -off.

 

[UCONN#1]

1. Watching this game gave me agita. Play good for a few minutes, then play like drek for a few, randomly sprinkle in a couple insanely athletic plays here and there, with a bonehead move every now and then. Repeat, recycle.
2. Since the first of the year, Whaley has been shooting FTs at 86.6% (26 of 30)
3. If we discount Aiyegbusi's airball heave at the end, we shot an even 50% from the field.
4. Bouk got involved in the first half for once! But then he kind of threw away his 1st half contributions before the break, and started over the in the 2nd. In the first 10 minutes of the game, Bouk had 2 rebounds (1 at each end) and went 2 for 2 from three. In the last 4-1/2 minutes or so of the first half, Bouk went 0 for 2 from the line and 0 for 2 from three, and had a foul, a turnover and one defensive board.
5. One of my favorite sequences from the recent string of good games came about 2/3 of the way through the 2nd half. It was the Whaley and Bouk show, with a little icing on the cake from Gaffney. UCF had trimmed a 15 point lead to 11, and had momentum going into the TV timeout at 7:33. Coming out of the TO, Whaley blocks a shot. Bouk gets the rebound and gets fouled. Sinks two. UCF misses a three. Bouk gets the rebound and drops the dime to Whaley. UCF makes a layup. Bouk gets fouled again. Makes two. 6:39 on the clock. Bouk had 4 points, 2 boards and an assist in less than a minute, and we have our 15 point cushion back. The game was effectively over at that point, but just to make sure, Jalen steals the ball and makes a season highlight film layup. Knights are dead at 71-54, with 6:29 left. The rest of the game was just a formality.
6. Gilbert did not shoot well, yet he played great. Solid D, 5 dimes and a couple boards. There were also a couple instances where he settled the team down and set up a play when things were on the verge of going wonky.
7. Gaffney had a very similar game to AG. Shot was off, but didn't try to do too much. Just played steady, pushed the team when needed, ate some clock when it was to our advantage.
8. Tough to decide who would be my choice for POG. When a couple players are very close in my mind, I usually resort to a simple arithmetic line score comparison, and by that measure, Vital's (P+R+A+S+B-F) totals 32 to edge Whaley's 18+11+1+1+2-2 for 31, but excitement-wise, I think I have to go with Mr. Whaley this time around. Very close though. If it was CV's Senior night, I would probably have gone the other way.
9. Statistically, we dominated, despite the uneven and sometimes sloppy play. Won all three shooting percentage columns as well as both O & D rebound totals, plus we doubled UCF or better on dimes steals and blocks, while committing fewer TOs and fouls.
10. Assisting on more than half our buckets is always a good thing, and we went for 55%.
11. I'm not a Carlton hater by any means, and know full well that we are going to need him against tall and bulky front lines, but we definitely play better ball with Isaiah on the floor than Josh. He's a better rebounder and when he catches the ball near the rim, 9 times out of 10 he's going to stuff it, while Josh is going to go for the lay-in. Seems to me that an awful lot of Josh's points come from tapping in or otherwise putting back his own missed layups.
12. There is no question in my mind that Bouk and Whaley have raised the excitement level in the building in recent home games. Regardless of which crummy network is broadcasting the game, the difference in the crowd noise is pronounced from earlier in league play.
13. Finally, a note for Seth G: As regards your feelings on our last head coach, mind your own @$##$% business, and keep your opinions to yourself. Your comparison to the Knight/Indiana relationship is moronic.

kudos for #13. Had to put it on mute while listening to that garbage

 

[CTBasketball]

Seth Greenberg is an idiot. We played well tho. Need to take care of business next game.

 

[Palatine]

The announcers during the game cited the Knight/Indiana relationship as applies to Ollie/UConn. If you don't think they are alike in any way, the people who cover the business professionally disagree.

 

[Fairfield_1st]

14. Once again at the end of the half we struggled to get a good look.

This seems to happen every game. I think we're waiting too long. We don't have a great "breakdown your defender" player (I said great), but we have 2 or 3 (Bouk, Vital & Maybe Adams) that can. Given that, I think we need to start moving the ball sooner than the 10 second mark. Let's get bodies moving around 15 and see how it goes.

 

[pj]

The announcers during the game cited the Knight/Indiana relationship as applies to Ollie/UConn. If you don't think they are alike in any way, the people who cover the business professionally disagree.

Ollie won a championship, that's the similarity. But it ends there.

 

[businesslawyer]

1. Watching this game gave me agita. Play good for a few minutes, then play like drek for a few, randomly sprinkle in a couple insanely athletic plays here and there, with a bonehead move every now and then. Repeat, recycle.
2. Since the first of the year, Whaley has been shooting FTs at 86.6% (26 of 30)
3. If we discount Aiyegbusi's airball heave at the end, we shot an even 50% from the field.
4. Bouk got involved in the first half for once! But then he kind of threw away his 1st half contributions before the break, and started over the in the 2nd. In the first 10 minutes of the game, Bouk had 2 rebounds (1 at each end) and went 2 for 2 from three. In the last 4-1/2 minutes or so of the first half, Bouk went 0 for 2 from the line and 0 for 2 from three, and had a foul, a turnover and one defensive board.
5. One of my favorite sequences from the recent string of good games came about 2/3 of the way through the 2nd half. It was the Whaley and Bouk show, with a little icing on the cake from Gaffney. UCF had trimmed a 15 point lead to 11, and had momentum going into the TV timeout at 7:33. Coming out of the TO, Whaley blocks a shot. Bouk gets the rebound and gets fouled. Sinks two. UCF misses a three. Bouk gets the rebound and drops the dime to Whaley. UCF makes a layup. Bouk gets fouled again. Makes two. 6:39 on the clock. Bouk had 4 points, 2 boards and an assist in less than a minute, and we have our 15 point cushion back. The game was effectively over at that point, but just to make sure, Jalen steals the ball and makes a season highlight film layup. Knights are dead at 71-54, with 6:29 left. The rest of the game was just a formality.
6. Gilbert did not shoot well, yet he played great. Solid D, 5 dimes and a couple boards. There were also a couple instances where he settled the team down and set up a play when things were on the verge of going wonky.
7. Gaffney had a very similar game to AG. Shot was off, but didn't try to do too much. Just played steady, pushed the team when needed, ate some clock when it was to our advantage.
8. Tough to decide who would be my choice for POG. When a couple players are very close in my mind, I usually resort to a simple arithmetic line score comparison, and by that measure, Vital's (P+R+A+S+B-F) totals 32 to edge Whaley's 18+11+1+1+2-2 for 31, but excitement-wise, I think I have to go with Mr. Whaley this time around. Very close though. If it was CV's Senior night, I would probably have gone the other way.
9. Statistically, we dominated, despite the uneven and sometimes sloppy play. Won all three shooting percentage columns as well as both O & D rebound totals, plus we doubled UCF or better on dimes steals and blocks, while committing fewer TOs and fouls.
10. Assisting on more than half our buckets is always a good thing, and we went for 55%.
11. I'm not a Carlton hater by any means, and know full well that we are going to need him against tall and bulky front lines, but we definitely play better ball with Isaiah on the floor than Josh. He's a better rebounder and when he catches the ball near the rim, 9 times out of 10 he's going to stuff it, while Josh is going to go for the lay-in. Seems to me that an awful lot of Josh's points come from tapping in or otherwise putting back his own missed layups.
12. There is no question in my mind that Bouk and Whaley have raised the excitement level in the building in recent home games. Regardless of which crummy network is broadcasting the game, the difference in the crowd noise is pronounced from earlier in league play.
13. Finally, a note for Seth G: As regards your feelings on our last head coach, mind your own @$##$% business, and keep your opinions to yourself. Your comparison to the Knight/Indiana relationship is moronic.

Huh?

7. Gaffney did not have a similar game to Gilbert. Gaffney's D would have gotten him benched from a 7th grade rec league game.

11. Explain to me please why Carlton missing, rebounding and scoring is any less valuable to the team than him scoring the first time.

13. It's not possible to disagree with Seth Greenberg without pretending that he has no right to give an opinion if it's anti-UConn? Sheesh.

 

[ctchamps]

6. Gilbert's 5 A to 0 TO was significant. Gaffney had 2 assists and 1 TO. Gilbert set up offense early in the shot clock. Jalen's indecisiveness impacted flow of ball movement necessitating late in the clock shots that don't show up as TO's. This was one of Gilbert's best games. We'll need him to continue playing like that to have any post season chances.

Whaley's play has been a terrific boost for this team. You cannot underestimate his ability to disrupt opposing teams offense and the excitement his ability to finish at the rim helps other player. The one concern: not sure if Whaley played softer defense later in the game to avoid foul trouble but it appeared Collin Smith had his way with Isaiah. Not sure what would have happened if Smith was not in foul trouble.

 

[Marat]

I love the title of the thoughtZ thread "Tacko Free Knights" !

 

[RichZ]

Huh?

7. Gaffney did not have a similar game to Gilbert. Gaffney's D would have gotten him benched from a 7th grade rec league game.

Similar in that his shot was MIA, but he managed to make his minutes on the floor count. I should have stated offensively, because JG's defense is uhm... tentative? indecisive? just a half-beat behind the offensive player's move, I guess.

11. Explain to me please why Carlton missing, rebounding and scoring is any less valuable to the team than him scoring the first time.

Because too often, he does not get the board off his own miss, so never gets the opportunity to put it back in. If he went up and stuffed the ball the first time, there's no need to worry about the rebound and putback. But he is way too slow off his feet to do that unless he's on the move, which isn't the case with putting back his own shot

13. It's not possible to disagree with Seth Greenberg without pretending that he has no right to give an opinion if it's anti-UConn? Sheesh.

He is a decent announcer/commentator for the game in front of him. He needs to stick to that. In this case in particular, his justification (Knight being accepted back into the Hoosier family) is just so far from applicable to the Ollie/UConn situation as to be laughable. BK was the Indiana coach for 3 decades. His firing was heavily and near universally criticized by students and alumni alike. Knight went on to rebuild his coaching career for almost 10 years before retiring, and it still took another decade before he was invited back to be recognized. In Ollie's case, it's been 2 years, he is not universally loved, and he is suing UConn. Where is the similarity?

 

[Dooooooomed]

Thoughts on UCF: #BackToTheAACBasement

Seriously, I think ECU and Tulane are going to regularly start finishing ahead of them.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

1. Watching this game gave me agita. Play good for a few minutes, then play like drek for a few, randomly sprinkle in a couple insanely athletic plays here and there, with a bonehead move every now and then. Repeat, recycle.
2. Since the first of the year, Whaley has been shooting FTs at 86.6% (26 of 30)
3. If we discount Aiyegbusi's airball heave at the end, we shot an even 50% from the field.
4. Bouk got involved in the first half for once! But then he kind of threw away his 1st half contributions before the break, and started over the in the 2nd. In the first 10 minutes of the game, Bouk had 2 rebounds (1 at each end) and went 2 for 2 from three. In the last 4-1/2 minutes or so of the first half, Bouk went 0 for 2 from the line and 0 for 2 from three, and had a foul, a turnover and one defensive board.
5. One of my favorite sequences from the recent string of good games came about 2/3 of the way through the 2nd half. It was the Whaley and Bouk show, with a little icing on the cake from Gaffney. UCF had trimmed a 15 point lead to 11, and had momentum going into the TV timeout at 7:33. Coming out of the TO, Whaley blocks a shot. Bouk gets the rebound and gets fouled. Sinks two. UCF misses a three. Bouk gets the rebound and drops the dime to Whaley. UCF makes a layup. Bouk gets fouled again. Makes two. 6:39 on the clock. Bouk had 4 points, 2 boards and an assist in less than a minute, and we have our 15 point cushion back. The game was effectively over at that point, but just to make sure, Jalen steals the ball and makes a season highlight film layup. Knights are dead at 71-54, with 6:29 left. The rest of the game was just a formality.
6. Gilbert did not shoot well, yet he played great. Solid D, 5 dimes and a couple boards. There were also a couple instances where he settled the team down and set up a play when things were on the verge of going wonky.
7. Gaffney had a very similar game to AG. Shot was off, but didn't try to do too much. Just played steady, pushed the team when needed, ate some clock when it was to our advantage.
8. Tough to decide who would be my choice for POG. When a couple players are very close in my mind, I usually resort to a simple arithmetic line score comparison, and by that measure, Vital's (P+R+A+S+B-F) totals 32 to edge Whaley's 18+11+1+1+2-2 for 31, but excitement-wise, I think I have to go with Mr. Whaley this time around. Very close though. If it was CV's Senior night, I would probably have gone the other way.
9. Statistically, we dominated, despite the uneven and sometimes sloppy play. Won all three shooting percentage columns as well as both O & D rebound totals, plus we doubled UCF or better on dimes steals and blocks, while committing fewer TOs and fouls.
10. Assisting on more than half our buckets is always a good thing, and we went for 55%.
11. I'm not a Carlton hater by any means, and know full well that we are going to need him against tall and bulky front lines, but we definitely play better ball with Isaiah on the floor than Josh. He's a better rebounder and when he catches the ball near the rim, 9 times out of 10 he's going to stuff it, while Josh is going to go for the lay-in. Seems to me that an awful lot of Josh's points come from tapping in or otherwise putting back his own missed layups.
12. There is no question in my mind that Bouk and Whaley have raised the excitement level in the building in recent home games. Regardless of which crummy network is broadcasting the game, the difference in the crowd noise is pronounced from earlier in league play.
13. Finally, a note for Seth G: As regards your feelings on our last head coach, mind your own @$##$% business, and keep your opinions to yourself. Your comparison to the Knight/Indiana relationship is moronic.

#8 - I would gave guessed 3 assists for Whaley, do I doubt it was fewer than 2. That bumps his total to 32.

#13 - If two seasons' victories hadn't been vacated, then Ollie's head coaching record at UConn would look a lot more like Mike Davis's at Indiana. Yes, it's essential to adjust upward for KO's winning the NCAA Final game in his second year of replacing a legendary coach.

Knight was let go for violating a zero tolerance policy. Ollie's contracts had strict provisions in the aftermath of JC's final years that had earned a post-season ban. Even now, the current UConn team competes with a scholarship reduction, and Ollie is still operating under a show cause order.

The alumni unity angle is fair game for a media outlet because it makes for a simple soubdbite, but it's a bad comparable.

 

[businesslawyer]

Similar in that his shot was MIA, but he managed to make his minutes on the floor count. I should have stated offensively, because JG's defense is uhm... tentative? indecisive? just a half-beat behind the offensive player's move, I guess.


Because too often, he does not get the board off his own miss, so never gets the opportunity to put it back in. If he went up and stuffed the ball the first time, there's no need to worry about the rebound and putback. But he is way too slow off his feet to do that unless he's on the move, which isn't the case with putting back his own shot


He is a decent announcer/commentator for the game in front of him. He needs to stick to that. In this case in particular, his justification (Knight being accepted back into the Hoosier family) is just so far from applicable to the Ollie/UConn situation as to be laughable. BK was the Indiana coach for 3 decades. His firing was heavily and near universally criticized by students and alumni alike. Knight went on to rebuild his coaching career for almost 10 years before retiring, and it still took another decade before he was invited back to be recognized. In Ollie's case, it's been 2 years, he is not universally loved, and he is suing UConn. Where is the similarity?

Did I say I agreed with Greenberg? What I said is he's entitled to have an opinion and to state it. It wouldn't hurt the Boneyard to listen to opinions we don't like sometimes. You don't have to agree with it but smart people want to know what people outside their bubbles think.

 

[RichZ]

Did I say I agreed with Greenberg? What I said is he's entitled to have an opinion and to state it. It wouldn't hurt the Boneyard to listen to opinions we don't like sometimes. You don't have to agree with it but smart people want to know what people outside their bubbles think.

He comes in and spouts an opinion that in my estimation is not only completely wrong, but is counter to the best interests of the program. I have just as much right to point out that he's not only wrong, but he is speaking out of turn as it were, as he has to sit there and make an ass of himself.

 

[gtcam]

In Ollie's case, it's been 2 years, he is not universally loved, and he is suing UConn. Where is the similarity?

1. You apparently have very little knowledge of IU basketball. BK is not universally loved in Indiana by any means. He hated the IU BoD and the sentiment was mutual. The booster club who was once his guardian angel had turned against him. Even in his hay day he had a ton of haters who despised his language and actions.
2. BK had no reason to consider suing IU, he knew exactly what his next step was going to be
3. If you felt you were owed $11 million you would consider suing. KO is looking after KO - and anyone who is honest with themselves would do the same thing. Anyone here who pretends to know any of the confidential intricacies about this case - I'm calling you it out as BS. What I do know is that if UConn came up with something even close to a workable situation it would not be sitting where it is today.
4, Greenberg can speak to it because he lives in that world and salary sphere - none of us do> HOWEVER, I think he went on too long and overboard
Let's be honest - if he said KO was a jerk and should come crawling on his knees to bed the fans forgiveness all you who bitch about Greenberg would be praising him
Let's forget it, forget KO and enjoy what DH and the team is doing know

 

[RichZ]

In Ollie's case, it's been 2 years, he is not universally loved, and he is suing UConn. Where is the similarity?

Let's forget it, forget KO and enjoy what DH and the team is doing know

We can disagree on anything or everything, in whole or in part, except your last line. That's true and pure.

 

[uconngb]

In Ollie's case, it's been 2 years, he is not universally loved, and he is suing UConn. Where is the similarity?

1. You apparently have very little knowledge of IU basketball. BK is not universally loved in Indiana by any means. He hated the IU BoD and the sentiment was mutual. The booster club who was once his guardian angel had turned against him. Even in his hay day he had a ton of haters who despised his language and actions.
2. BK had no reason to consider suing IU, he knew exactly what his next step was going to be
3. If you felt you were owed $11 million you would consider suing. KO is looking after KO - and anyone who is honest with themselves would do the same thing. Anyone here who pretends to know any of the confidential intricacies about this case - I'm calling you it out as BS. What I do know is that if UConn came up with something even close to a workable situation it would not be sitting where it is today.
4, Greenberg can speak to it because he lives in that world and salary sphere - none of us do> HOWEVER, I think he went on too long and overboard
Let's be honest - if he said KO was a jerk and should come crawling on his knees to bed the fans forgiveness all you who bitch about Greenberg would be praising him
Let's forget it, forget KO and enjoy what DH and the team is doing know

Don’t agree w you often.....as in ever. But have to agree grudgingly about the KO situation. Regardless of the fact that he turned about to be an awful coach.....,actually BECAUSE of that, he has no choice personally than to fight for his contract. He may be unemployable in the future now and believes he is owed a ton of money. Whether it’s his alma mater or not, he has to fight for that pay day, just as anyone on this board would if it were them. He has got to be afraid he may never get another job, or at least as high paying a job.

Just to be clear, I hope he doesn’t get a penny, and I dont think he deserves a penny. But I certainly understand why he’s doing it and as much as it is hurting mybeloved university and MY alma mater, I understand why he is doing it from a personal standpoint.

Oh, and no offense to CV, but IW was DEFINITELY the player of the game last night. Lot of fun watching his upward trajectory. Sure wish we had more games left, team is really coming together and he has certainly been one of the catalysts.

 

[Edward Sargent]

6. Gilbert's 5 A to 0 TO was significant. Gaffney had 2 assists and 1 TO. Gilbert set up offense early in the shot clock. Jalen's indecisiveness impacted flow of ball movement necessitating late in the clock shots that don't show up as TO's. This was one of Gilbert's best games. We'll need him to continue playing like that to have any post season chances.

Whaley's play has been a terrific boost for this team. You cannot underestimate his ability to disrupt opposing teams offense and the excitement his ability to finish at the rim helps other player. The one concern: not sure if Whaley played softer defense later in the game to avoid foul trouble but it appeared Collin Smith had his way with Isaiah. Not sure what would have happened if Smith was not in foul trouble.

Two of Al's assists were to Whaley including one where he passed on an open Vital in the corner for a nice bounce to Whaley for a dunk. Vital said something to Al as they were heading back down court

 

[NJHoops]

Two of Al's assists were to Whaley including one where he passed on an open Vital in the corner for a nice bounce to Whaley for a dunk. Vital said something to Al as they were heading back down court

I think this is the one you’re talking about. Christian went real quick from “I’m open, what the... “ to “ok, good pass, good pass.”

 

[spudzj6]

I think this is the one you’re talking about. Christian went real quick from “I’m open, what the... “ to “ok, good pass, good pass.”

I posted about this in my response as well - i believe the camera showed AG afterwards at some point, he was smirking to vital, i.e. "I knew what i was doing". After watching the play back a few times, you could tell he saw the play developing and was patient. That just goes to the point that if he can just relax and play patient, his vision and passing can be what we all expected when we saw him pre-injury and the first half of the MSU game. Not advocating for him to stay or leave, just pointing out the fact that he still has McD AA talent in him somewhere, will take time and a good coach to bring it out of him.

 

[Edward Sargent]

I think this is the one you’re talking about. Christian went real quick from “I’m open, what the... “ to “ok, good pass, good pass.”

Yep, that is the play. Thanks for posting (I am a bit technology challenged to do it myself!!). I wonder if that pass would have been made by Al earlier in the year?

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Let's be honest - if he said KO was a jerk and should come crawling on his knees to bed the fans forgiveness all you who bitch about Greenberg would be praising him

NO

 

[SwingDog]

1. Watching this game gave me agita. Play good for a few minutes, then play like drek for a few, randomly sprinkle in a couple insanely athletic plays here and there, with a bonehead move every now and then. Repeat, recycle.
2. Since the first of the year, Whaley has been shooting FTs at 86.6% (26 of 30)
3. If we discount Aiyegbusi's airball heave at the end, we shot an even 50% from the field.
4. Bouk got involved in the first half for once! But then he kind of threw away his 1st half contributions before the break, and started over the in the 2nd. In the first 10 minutes of the game, Bouk had 2 rebounds (1 at each end) and went 2 for 2 from three. In the last 4-1/2 minutes or so of the first half, Bouk went 0 for 2 from the line and 0 for 2 from three, and had a foul, a turnover and one defensive board.
5. One of my favorite sequences from the recent string of good games came about 2/3 of the way through the 2nd half. It was the Whaley and Bouk show, with a little icing on the cake from Gaffney. UCF had trimmed a 15 point lead to 11, and had momentum going into the TV timeout at 7:33. Coming out of the TO, Whaley blocks a shot. Bouk gets the rebound and gets fouled. Sinks two. UCF misses a three. Bouk gets the rebound and drops the dime to Whaley. UCF makes a layup. Bouk gets fouled again. Makes two. 6:39 on the clock. Bouk had 4 points, 2 boards and an assist in less than a minute, and we have our 15 point cushion back. The game was effectively over at that point, but just to make sure, Jalen steals the ball and makes a season highlight film layup. Knights are dead at 71-54, with 6:29 left. The rest of the game was just a formality.
6. Gilbert did not shoot well, yet he played great. Solid D, 5 dimes and a couple boards. There were also a couple instances where he settled the team down and set up a play when things were on the verge of going wonky.
7. Gaffney had a very similar game to AG. Shot was off, but didn't try to do too much. Just played steady, pushed the team when needed, ate some clock when it was to our advantage.
8. Tough to decide who would be my choice for POG. When a couple players are very close in my mind, I usually resort to a simple arithmetic line score comparison, and by that measure, Vital's (P+R+A+S+B-F) totals 32 to edge Whaley's 18+11+1+1+2-2 for 31, but excitement-wise, I think I have to go with Mr. Whaley this time around. Very close though. If it was CV's Senior night, I would probably have gone the other way.
9. Statistically, we dominated, despite the uneven and sometimes sloppy play. Won all three shooting percentage columns as well as both O & D rebound totals, plus we doubled UCF or better on dimes steals and blocks, while committing fewer TOs and fouls.
10. Assisting on more than half our buckets is always a good thing, and we went for 55%.
11. I'm not a Carlton hater by any means, and know full well that we are going to need him against tall and bulky front lines, but we definitely play better ball with Isaiah on the floor than Josh. He's a better rebounder and when he catches the ball near the rim, 9 times out of 10 he's going to stuff it, while Josh is going to go for the lay-in. Seems to me that an awful lot of Josh's points come from tapping in or otherwise putting back his own missed layups.
12. There is no question in my mind that Bouk and Whaley have raised the excitement level in the building in recent home games. Regardless of which crummy network is broadcasting the game, the difference in the crowd noise is pronounced from earlier in league play.
13. Finally, a note for Seth G: As regards your feelings on our last head coach, mind your own @$##$% business, and keep your opinions to yourself. Your comparison to the Knight/Indiana relationship is moronic.

Appreciate the thoughtz as always. It is exciting to see the inspired play of this UConn team. Their ball movement has improved 100% from the beginning of the year; passes are more crisp and court awareness has gotten much, much better. Everyone has improved in that regard, including (maybe especially) Whaley and even Carlton. Defensively, the team appears to be locked in, and there are very few open looks for the opponent. Coach Hurley seems to be doing a great job of straddling the line between discipline/structure and allowing players to develop. That's not any easy one, but he's found the right balance. I also love that you can see the mutual love and respect between the players and coaches, and they don't hang their heads when they're on the wrong side of the scoreboard. This really is all about developing a culture within the program, and now it's clear to me that the KO era was very lacking in that area. Going to the AAC didn't help KO and he had big shoes to fill, and he was never able to get the team to determine it's identity. In hindsight, it appears it was destined for there to be a few "lost years" given the perfect storm of circumstances.

On some of the other thoughts, it is great to see better free throw shooting, and Isaiah has done a great job in this and other areas. We still need to be more aware of the shot clock and clean up some of the turnovers but it's nice to be playing our best basketball, and doing it the right way, at this time of the season.

 

[RichZ]

Two of Al's assists were to Whaley including one where he passed on an open Vital in the corner for a nice bounce to Whaley for a dunk. Vital said something to Al as they were heading back down court

I know that CV didn't plan it that way, but he was so open that AG just took advantage of him as a decoy to pull the defender (I think it was Ingram) out of the middle. AG just glanced in CV's direction and started to cock his arm. Ingram(?) went running towards CV, and Whaley just slid into the vacant space in the paint. The entire lane was empty other than IW when Gilbert fired off that rifle pass to him.