Temple Box Score Observations and view from Section 220

[Huskybass]

Josh and Akok had identical stat lines of 10 points, 5 rebounds and 1 assist. Nice to see Josh play pretty well. Akok is special. When it clicks (next season?) he will be a beast. Add in all those blocked shots and he really is a joy to watch.

Bouk shows flashes of being spectacular and he scores in bunches. Superstar in the making. He picks up the worst fouls though. Yesterday he got at least two fouls called on him that involved minor contact at the most. That is an area for improvement for sure as it will enable him to spend more minutes on the floor especially when he is hot offensively.

Gaffney broke the press pretty easily and didn't look rattled at all. I think he only had one turnover in 36 minutes. That speaks both to his growth as a player and also to Temple's fairly pedestrian defense.

Brendan Adams was all over the place last night doing a bunch of things needed to help the team win. His growth from last year is substantial.

Whaley played very well last night. He now has the ability to contribute on both ends of the floor. I give him a lot of credit for working hard, transforming his body, and becoming a serviceable big who can be a key part of our depth next season.

Vital was all over the place last night as well. Diving for loose balls, running the break, missing a few layups, hitting some threes, converting some free throws. Love him or hate him He is a big part of this team.

I was struck by just how bad a team Temple is 20 games into the season. I was surprised to see that they had 13 assists in the box score because they seemed to go one-on-one all night. I wasn't very impressed by Aaron McKee as a coach. Given UConn's lack of depth with only 2 scholarship players on the bench he should have uptempoed the game and used his 9 or 10 guys to absolutely wear us out so we would have been gassed down the stretch. His coaching and game plan did nothing to exploit our weakness in terms of a very short bench.

I feel good about the returning nucleus for next season. It is a nice blend of experience, youth and perhaps most importantly talent. All seven guys showed last night that they can be valuable contributors. I realize that Temple is terrible. I saw 40 minutes of them first hand. But I still saw enough last night to make me think that next season could be the season where we finally return to national prominence.

 

[AJP12]

McKie also took forever to finally start pressuring Gaffney. I expected them to swarm him from the jump like Houston did to Gilbert, but nope they barely pressured him at all in the first 15 min or so of the half. Definitely questionable game planning and scouting.

 

[Fairfield_1st]

For the abuse he's taken, I think folks need to give Josh a nod for last night. Still not the dunking machine we all dream of, but he was more aggressive and the numbers showed it. I think it was the 2nd half where he made essentially a baseline drive and got the foul. That was a new wrinkle.
Kudos to the whole team for being 2 men down, but playing aggressive and staying out of foul trouble. Still a couple bad fouls and bad shot selection, but a step in the right direction. They have to be feeling good after a win by that margin.

 

[Peacefrog]

I really liked when Akok made a two or three dribble drive to the basket from the elbow area. He missed the shot but if he can add some dribble-drive to his game he'll be a handful to guard.

 

[Huskybass]

I really liked when Akok made a two or three dribble drive to the basket from the elbow area. He missed the shot but if he can add some dribble-drive to his game he'll be a handful to guard.

That's precisely why I hinted at it really clicking for him next season.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

I think it was the 2nd half where he made essentially a baseline drive and got the foul. That was a new wrinkle.

On that play, I was surprised and happy that he went up strong, and disappointed that the shot failed.

However, his teammates immediately swarmed to him and a big, almost laughing smile came onto his face, whereupon he proceeded to make both free throws, employing pretty good and consistent form.

He did put the ball onto the floor needlessly at least twice, which surprised me, because historically he has done this less than many bigs. I'm pulling for him every game. We need him.

 

[Huskygrad88]

Josh and Akok had identical stat lines of 10 points, 5 rebounds and 1 assist. Nice to see Josh play pretty well. Akok is special. When it clicks (next season?) he will be a beast. Add in all those blocked shots and he really is a joy to watch.

Bouk shows flashes of being spectacular and he scores in bunches. Superstar in the making. He picks up the worst fouls though. Yesterday he got at least two fouls called on him that involved minor contact at the most. That is an area for improvement for sure as it will enable him to spend more minutes on the floor especially when he is hot offensively.

Gaffney broke the press pretty easily and didn't look rattled at all. I think he only had one turnover in 36 minutes. That speaks both to his growth as a player and also to Temple's fairly pedestrian defense.

Brendan Adams was all over the place last night doing a bunch of things needed to help the team win. His growth from last year is substantial.

Whaley played very well last night. He now has the ability to contribute on both ends of the floor. I give him a lot of credit for working hard, transforming his body, and becoming a serviceable big who can be a key part of our depth next season.

Vital was all over the place last night as well. Diving for loose balls, running the break, missing a few layups, hitting some threes, converting some free throws. Love him or hate him He is a big part of this team.

I was struck by just how bad a team Temple is 20 games into the season. I was surprised to see that they had 13 assists in the box score because they seemed to go one-on-one all night. I wasn't very impressed by Aaron McKee as a coach. Given UConn's lack of depth with only 2 scholarship players on the bench he should have uptempoed the game and used his 9 or 10 guys to absolutely wear us out so we would have been gassed down the stretch. His coaching and game plan did nothing to exploit our weakness in terms of a very short bench.

I feel good about the returning nucleus for next season. It is a nice blend of experience, youth and perhaps most importantly talent. All seven guys showed last night that they can be valuable contributors. I realize that Temple is terrible. I saw 40 minutes of them first hand. But I still saw enough last night to make me think that next season could be the season where we finally return to national prominence.

Like the write up, and the Vital piece really made me think about how he is regarded. Sometimes he is killed for the lingering effects of his old habits, sometimes that he would never have even played on a JC team, etc. you do mention his energy and some other general observations, but nothing quantitative

Last night he had a double double, and ultimately lead the team in points, rebounds, steals, and assists, going 7-8 from the line. If anyone else did that there would be a thread dedicated specifically to that.

just something I find interesting.

 

[Huskybass]

Like the write up, and the Vital piece really made me think about how he is regarded. Sometimes he is killed for the lingering effects of his old habits, sometimes that he would never have even played on a JC team, etc. you do mention his energy and some other general observations, but nothing quantitative

Last night he had a double double, and ultimately lead the team in points, rebounds, steals, and assists, going 7-8 from the line. If anyone else did that there would be a thread dedicated specifically to that.

just something I find interesting.

You raise a very good point. I didn't even realize Vital had 10 rebounds last night as he has been such a consistently good rebounder from the guard position for so long It has come to be expected and not appreciated as much as it should be.

 

[CL82]

Like the write up, and the Vital piece really made me think about how he is regarded. Sometimes he is killed for the lingering effects of his old habits, sometimes that he would never have even played on a JC team, etc. you do mention his energy and some other general observations, but nothing quantitative

Last night he had a double double, and ultimately lead the team in points, rebounds, steals, and assists, going 7-8 from the line. If anyone else did that there would be a thread dedicated specifically to that.

just something I find interesting.

Lol, that's because CV gives us reasons to love him and hate him in every game. I'll miss him next season but not the head scratching plays during "winning time."

 

[8893]

Lol, that's because CV gives us reasons to love him and hate him in every game. I'll miss him next season but not the head scratching plays during "winning time."

I was also thinking a lot about Vital last night in the wake of the AG drama. One or more posters made a good (imo) point that the team really couldn't excel with both CV and AG playing the vast majority of the guard minutes together because their skills aren't complementary and we can't afford the multitude of similar issues they have.

It was fascinating watching CV's energy last night with the younger kids, and it dawned on me that he's never really been burdened or cursed by the types of high expectations AG had. CV was not nearly as heralded as a recruit and was basically forced into a leadership and starting role by virtue of default. So, even when he gives us head-scratchers, most of think, "Well, that's exactly why he was never supposed to be the man." When AG screws up though, we're more likely to think he should know better or be better, because he was expected to be the man.

 

[tentoes4rings]

Lol, that's because CV gives us reasons to love him and hate him in every game. I'll miss him next season but not the head scratching plays during "winning time."

I found it interesting and comical when the color commentary announcer called him an all time great Husky guard.

 

[Husky1]

CV was just awesome as usual, yes as usual. Most posters focus on points, shots, shooting percentage......
Both of my kids played in college, and I've been a coach for 18 years - do you guys know how hard it is to lead a team in rebounds and steals and points and second in assists??? Many of you just focus on the negative. He's also a GREAT leader and always gives 1000% - supports everyone, leads by example.
BTW he often gets the ball at the end of the shot clock after others have dribbled and passed knowwhere
and is forced to shoot it - look at the tape, i for one, will miss CV tremendously next year and will NEVER be able to figure all the animosity. Great kid, all effort, leader, loves UC, leading scorer, rebounder, and steals from the guard spot .

 

[TheChamps990411]

I really liked when Akok made a two or three dribble drive to the basket from the elbow area. He missed the shot but if he can add some dribble-drive to his game he'll be a handful to guard.

A few of us have been saying this for a while now. If he can do that on the regular and he can score consistently it opens up everything else and then they would fear him.

 

[CL82]

I was also thinking a lot about Vital last night in the wake of the AG drama. One or more posters made a good (imo) point that the team really couldn't excel with both CV and AG playing the vast majority of the guard minutes together because their skills aren't complementary and we can't afford the multitude of similar issues they have.

It was fascinating watching CV's energy last night with the younger kids, and it dawned on me that he's never really been burdened or cursed by the types of high expectations AG had. CV was not nearly as heralded as a recruit and was basically forced into a leadership and starting role by virtue of default. So, even when he gives us head-scratchers, most of think, "Well, that's exactly why he was never supposed to be the man." When AG screws up though, we're more likely to think he should know better or be better, because he was expected to be the man.

I don't know if that's is it as much as AG's 'over penetrate and get stuffed drives' look worse than a bad CV jumper even though they both end up giving up the ball.

@Husky1 I agree somewhat about the last second heaves with the clock running down. That was what annoyed me the most about KO's teams. Tough to blame that on the kid who gets the ball with 5 seconds left on the clock.

 

[jdb50]

I found it interesting and comical when the color commentary announcer called him an all time great Husky guard.

Based on career points scored alone he is up there. Watching him get the ten rebounds last night it was amazing knowing he is 6"1". Game winning shots from the field he has not hit yet. He has been left many times to take late shots as others have passed on taking the shot at he end of the shot clock.

 

[auror]

CV was just awesome as usual, yes as usual. Most posters focus on points, shots, shooting percentage......
Both of my kids played in college, and I've been a coach for 18 years - do you guys know how hard it is to lead a team in rebounds and steals and points and second in assists??? Many of you just focus on the negative. He's also a GREAT leader and always gives 1000% - supports everyone, leads by example.
BTW he often gets the ball at the end of the shot clock after others have dribbled and passed knowwhere
and is forced to shoot it - look at the tape, i for one, will miss CV tremendously next year and will NEVER be able to figure all the animosity. Great kid, all effort, leader, loves UC, leading scorer, rebounder, and steals from the guard spot .

There's a lot to like to his game and plenty to not like. I like his personality more than I like his game. I wish his talent matched his role (or vice versa). He's in tremendous shape.

 

[jdb50]

A few of us have been saying this for a while now. If he can do that on the regular and he can score consistently it opens up everything else and then they would fear him.

My concern here is Akok getting charge calls. He really has to pick his spots to attack the basket and has to be under control to be able to jump stop. The refs will be more than happy to call any flop as a charge. With all the defensive plays he is involved in he does not need to give them any more chances to call cheap fouls.

 

[tentoes4rings]

Based on career points scored alone he is up there. Watching him get the ten rebounds last night it was amazing knowing he is 6"1". Game winning shots from the field he has not hit yet. He has been left many times to take late shots as others have passed on taking the shot at he end of the shot clock.

For the record, I like CV and appreciate his rebounding, steals, heart etc.. He was thrust into a position of having to try to be the go to guy, which he was never recruited to be. He was intended to be a 4th or 5th option who could do a little of everything. Now that the freshmen talent is starting to shine a bit, his value as a stat sheet stuffing guard is showing and we’ll hopefully see less but better shot attempts from him and overall more controlled play.

 

[Husky1]

What do you not like about his game besides shot selection some times, and some TO's which he usually gets by trying to making things happen - which he has to do because usually there's hasn't been others to do so.
Plenty not to like??
you don't his man to man defense, off the ball defense, steals, rebounding, assist numbers, intensity, effort, scoring, leadership
Plenty not to like - like what?

 

[Husky1]

Oh yeah, maybe another thing not to like is his free throw shooing......
or clutch free throw shooting
His dribbling.....

 

[coachn]

McKie also took forever to finally start pressuring Gaffney. I expected them to swarm him from the jump like Houston did to Gilbert, but nope they barely pressured him at all in the first 15 min or so of the half. Definitely questionable game planning and scouting.
[/QUOTE

 

[coachn]

I think you will see that the way we work 4 guards sometimes that presuring us will be dangerous for an opponent. I love the 4 guards esp the ones we have to be explosive both defense and offense.Gafney is the glue man

 

[Kenny11]

CV was just awesome as usual, yes as usual. Most posters focus on points, shots, shooting percentage......
Both of my kids played in college, and I've been a coach for 18 years - do you guys know how hard it is to lead a team in rebounds and steals and points and second in assists??? Many of you just focus on the negative. He's also a GREAT leader and always gives 1000% - supports everyone, leads by example.
BTW he often gets the ball at the end of the shot clock after others have dribbled and passed knowwhere
and is forced to shoot it - look at the tape, i for one, will miss CV tremendously next year and will NEVER be able to figure all the animosity. Great kid, all effort, leader, loves UC, leading scorer, rebounder, and steals from the guard spot .

CV is an undeniably GREAT rebounder. Early in his career some of us thought he rebounded well only because he hustles and we had no good bigs. That isn’t the case. He is an unbelievable rebounder. He has more rebounds in his career than several good husky bigs that were considered good rebounders. He often gets rebounds over huge opponents because of his quickness to the ball and getting in the right position. He is only a decent leaper and still does this at 6 ft 1

 

[ctchamps]

I was also thinking a lot about Vital last night in the wake of the AG drama. One or more posters made a good (imo) point that the team really couldn't excel with both CV and AG playing the vast majority of the guard minutes together because their skills aren't complementary and we can't afford the multitude of similar issues they have.

It was fascinating watching CV's energy last night with the younger kids, and it dawned on me that he's never really been burdened or cursed by the types of high expectations AG had. CV was not nearly as heralded as a recruit and was basically forced into a leadership and starting role by virtue of default. So, even when he gives us head-scratchers, most of think, "Well, that's exactly why he was never supposed to be the man." When AG screws up though, we're more likely to think he should know better or be better, because he was expected to be the man.

I’m thinking CV had a flashback to his freshman year this game.

 

[auror]

What do you not like about his game besides shot selection some times, and some TO's which he usually gets by trying to making things happen - which he has to do because usually there's hasn't been others to do so.
Plenty not to like??
you don't his man to man defense, off the ball defense, steals, rebounding, assist numbers, intensity, effort, scoring, leadership
Plenty not to like - like what?

As you mentioned and as I said, definitely plenty to like.

As to not like, this is just stuff I've noticed over the years...

• His shooting mechanics in the way he gathers himself, flips the ball above his head and shoots makes it very difficult to shoot on the move or off the dribble, so he takes more standstill jumpers, which because of his slow release are then more often contested.
• He often tries to force using his right hand on the left side of the basket. His finishing numbers are not strong in general considering his strength and experience, and this makes it worse. In lieu of moves or footwork (other than a Euro step), he seems to just try to drive by people by getting a full head of steam. Makes his finishing harder since he's going so fast. Not a lot of change of pace or direction. When someone does cut him off, he attempts to bounce off and hang instead of driving through contact. Which leads to...
• He doesn't draw enough fouls on his drives. Ironically it seems like he draws more fouls because of his slow developing jumper than anything (like 4 point play attempt last game). He's so strong, he should have a FT rate above 40.
• His handle is just okay, despite being a senior 6'2" guard.
• His decision-making has been notoriously poor throughout his career, whether shot selection or reading a play on offense, not just when he's been the best/only option trying to make something happen.
• You don't average a near 20% TO rate just because you're trying to make stuff happen. Little things, like stepping on the baseline before receiving a pass on the wing last game.
• I like the passion, don't love the technicals (this hasn't been a problem lately, and really a minor issue overall).
• He is short for a 2. His height when paired with AG or other small guard has made it difficult on defense over the years.

Again, a lot of things I do love about his game. You covered most of them above.