That was pretty enjoyable

[Palatine]

Some of it was ugly basketball. But a lot of it was UConn beating an opponent they should have beat. They went wire to wire, never lost the lead, and always seemed to have a hold of the game.

They were definitely the more poised team, the more talented team, they had a concept on offense and defense.

So for tonight, my stomach never danced around, I hardly yelled at the TV at all. And there were a few moments when guys made winning plays. Given the season so far, nice to see.

 

[Son of Robert]

Winning makes everything oh so much more enjoyable. Individual players, the team as a whole, both the offense and defense, everything is improving across the board. It is there to see. Bleed Blue!

 

[Ewekon]

The taco fell

 

[UConnNick]

If you want to criticize Ollie for not developing bigs, fine, but Dawkins has done zero with Tacko. The guy is a 7-6 stiff who has no clue how to play BB.

 

[Hankster]

I liked Vital last year as a Freshman. I like him more this year. Sure last year he made Freshman mistakes. This year,okay, a few errant passes a couple of ill advised shots. However overall, he is looking great.

 

[3rdbass]

I liked Vital last year as a Freshman. I like him more this year. Sure last year he made Freshman mistakes. This year,okay, a few errant passes a couple of ill advised shots. However overall, he is looking great.

I'm just glad KO relizes that CV is a better player than Anderson. That was so puzzling that he was playing Anderson more than Vital when Antoine is so limited offensively.

 

[intlzncster]

I liked Vital last year as a Freshman. I like him more this year. Sure last year he made Freshman mistakes. This year,okay, a few errant passes a couple of ill advised shots. However overall, he is looking great.

A couple??? Hahaha

 

[CardiacAndre7]

If you want to criticize Ollie for not developing bigs, fine, but Dawkins has done zero with Tacko. The guy is a 7-6 stiff who has no clue how to play BB.

He’s raw. He’s the the of player that will develop better in a pro league rather than college.

 

[Kitaman]

I believe Whaley had a 'Marcus White' game. Against the tallest player in the land our freshman had his coming out party. Even though he didn't put up many points he proved he doesn't have to. He does all the other things that our other bigs can't do, beyond rebounding.

I see a ton of tap balls, deflections, mis-directions and other 'little' things not reflected in the box score that makes us better down low. Plus he's a small forward hanging tough and mixing it up with the bigs down low.

Just his motor alone will wear opponents down. In the 2nd half when they jump he bounces!

Did I mention that he is just a freshman?

 

[Palatine]

At this point in his career, Whalley is a double-edge sword. You love him right up to moment where he gets completely lost on the offensive end. But, at this point, you have to give him minutes.

 

[UConnNick]

Whaley held his own vs. the big guy, but twice he had easy chances to dunk the ball on putbacks. Instead, he threw up soft, two foot floaters that missed. DUNK the freakin' ball, with authority!

 

[joober jones]

Can't dislike the 5 blocks by Whaley

 

[Tenspro2002]

Very satisfying to have a solid, dare I say comfortable win against an inferior opponent.

Now we'll see how it translates to playing against the big boys.

 

[Husky68]

Very satisfying to have a solid, dare I say comfortable win against an inferior opponent.

Now we'll see how it translates to playing against the big boys.

Not saying we beat a super team but UCF is #55 per Massey and beat decent Neb. and Ala. teams and other than being steamrolled by WVU have been very competitive in their other 3 loses. UCF is rated 5th in AAC and close with Houston and SMU so not really that many big boys other than WS and Cin. in league to play and then Vill.; other than that UConn should be quite competitive.

UConn has lost to teams rated by Massey as 5,8,9,26,32,49,117; so 5 or really maybe 6 (the # 49 team is the nose picker's team and they seem to get in) NCAA teams. Only Tulsa was out of top 100. Not saying this is NCAA team but would like to see 11-7 team going into Vill. and SMU games. Vill is quite a stretch but SMU has 8 of 12 wins over teams higher than 200 so far. 12-8 with 11 league games to go, boy would I take that and then see what happens.

Getting to 20 wins (including AAC tournament) seems a stretch but winning record and NIT is still possible. Who knows if can get to the 3rd day of the AAC tournament (need to be 5 or 6 seed). If Jalen wants to be the man, that would be the time to do a Kemba/Bazz impression.

 

[JSB60]

This was a decent win. Any game against UCF will be ugly, it's how they play.

 

[WestHartHusk]

This was a decent win. Any game against UCF will be ugly, it's how they play.

Um, that's how we play.

 

[Kembacity]

I believe Whaley had a 'Marcus White' game. Against the tallest player in the land our freshman had his coming out party. Even though he didn't put up many points he proved he doesn't have to. He does all the other things that our other bigs can't do, beyond rebounding.

I see a ton of tap balls, deflections, mis-directions and other 'little' things not reflected in the box score that makes us better down low. Plus he's a small forward hanging tough and mixing it up with the bigs down low.

Just his motor alone will wear opponents down. In the 2nd half when they jump he bounces!

Did I mention that he is just a freshman?

I wasn't able to watch last night but I like what I've been seeing from Whaley and I have assumed since we've seen more and more of him Ollie likes what he's doing in practice. As a guy who was a big in his pick up games, I like that Whaley has been tipping the ball or at least trying to lately. You aren't always in position to grab a rebound, but many times you can get a quick slap at it, and you realize that Jalen Adams/Vital are standing alone 6 feet from you... tap that ball to the open man and get your team the ball back.

I think marcus White is a great comparison for Whaley, and I hope we see him grow over the next few years. He's blocking shots, still looks clueless here and there, but he's not picking up as many stupid fouls as Carlton/Diarra, he has and will be clutch for us if Cobb is done, since Dave O doesn't seem he can help us much against true competition

 

[Chief00]

We are improving. What’s are upside? I don’t know.

 

[3rdbass]

I believe Whaley had a 'Marcus White' game. Against the tallest player in the land our freshman had his coming out party. Even though he didn't put up many points he proved he doesn't have to. He does all the other things that our other bigs can't do, beyond rebounding.

I see a ton of tap balls, deflections, mis-directions and other 'little' things not reflected in the box score that makes us better down low. Plus he's a small forward hanging tough and mixing it up with the bigs down low.

Just his motor alone will wear opponents down. In the 2nd half when they jump he bounces!

Did I mention that he is just a freshman?

Small forward? He is a legit college power forward who can play center due to his length. He has no small forward skills.

 

[UConnNick]

We are improving. What’s are upside? I don’t know.

Maybe an NIT bid? You never know, though. We have caught lightning in a bottle during conference tourneys a few times in the past, when almost nobody thought we stood much of a chance of getting very far beyond the first game, if that. Even last season's depleted by injuries team managed to win two AAC tourney games, and IIRC, only lost in the semis by a modest margin, in a game vs. the little leprechaun that was a cluster fluck of atrocious zebra-ing.

 

[the Q]

Whaley held his own vs. the big guy, but twice he had easy chances to dunk the ball on putbacks. Instead, he threw up soft, two foot floaters that missed. DUNK the freakin' ball, with authority!

Yeah, that was basically my biggest complaint of the night for him.

Larrier and Adams still make some really head scratching decisions, and Vital is going to put up some bad shots...but no one is perfect.