The Backcourt - Shorten The Rotation or Stay the Course? What Say You?

[ManFromOZ]

Which is the best course of action? We have lots of backcourt pieces that aren't melding or matching right now. Albeit in hostile arenas. The lack of a true point is glaring right now. Hurley is trying to find time for everyone. Lots of standing around and passing around the ard. There is a lot of tentative and tight play in the minutes that Alleyne, Joey Cal and Diarra are getting. Five combined total points from those three in 31 minutes. Shortening the guard rotation seems like the right move at this time. Gotta get this straightened as we're getting closer and closer to tournament time. What say you?

 

[Beowulf]

I think he is distributing the minutes as good as he possibly can (although i'd love to see a jackson-is-the-actual-point-guard lineup)....they all just having problems shooting. Which is a big part of basketball from what I understand.

I think it was always a stretch to think Diarra was going to give you consistent offense, he's at least been on the floor for some impressive defensive stretches. Joey Cal is a shooter who is cold right now but he is still active, i do like the offensive sets when he's on the floor. Just needs to start knocking them down again. Alleyne still brings it on defense but I have to think the expectations for him on offense were substantially higher than what we've seen. And Newton has just been a little lethargic. I'm not sure if there is a way to tweak the minutes any more than he has, seems like he's more willing to ride the hot hand with the guards moreso than what we've seen with clingan/sanogo. Guys just have to start knocking down open looks

Tight is a good word for it, though. The three guys you mentioned never really seem settled in a half court situation, outside of a joey catch and shoot opportunity. Joey at least worked well getting involved with the jackson/clingan connection, he's usually the screen-before-the-screen guy. jackson missed him by a half second too on that layup he got pinned

 

[Umami Zen]

The sky is not falling.. However.. Our portal guys need to see their shots going in.. And with that comes confidence.. Defenses playing everyone honest.. Opens up the floor.. We become too predictable in our sets when shots are not falling.. With winnable games left in the month of January.. It would be great to get those guys back on the train offensively ..
We cannot afford to have a six man rotation going into the BET with little or no bench productivity.. Not worried about Big Three and our freshmen.

 

[husky429]

No sense is shortening the rotation when no one is playing well.

 

[husky429]

No sense is shortening the rotation when no one is playing well.

 

[uconnever]

Tristan needs to always be aggressive, he does good enough when he is. Too laid back for me. Diarra needs to be better on D, that’s what we need him for. Alleyne has been a complete no show. These guys look lost. I think I would trade one of these guys for Gaffney back. Probably Alleyne.

 

[UofCT]

Easy solution here. Jackson is the best playmaker on the team. Move him to the one, bring in Joey alongside Hawk and Karaban as shooting threats and rotate Sanogo and Clingan at the 5. Boom.

 

[jake14mw]

If there was somebody playing well, the minutes to the others would be shortened. The problem is, nobody is stepping up to perform and take the minutes from others.

 

[yungdowork]

I think we’re just missing a true leader on the court. I know Andre is the emotional leader, but he’s limited in how he can impact the game on offense. We need someone who wants to take over at the end of games. Rj had flaws, but he put pressure on teams during crunch time and seemed to always have the team on the same page. Feels like we’re a lot more disjointed and a lot more reliant on guys hitting tough shots, especially 3s, to stay in close games

 

[UConnSwag11]

No need to shorten but a different starting lineup is needed

 

[Colin G]

Tristan needs to always be aggressive, he does good enough when he is. Too laid back for me. Diarra needs to be better on D, that’s what we need him for. Alleyne has been a complete no show. These guys look lost. I think I would trade one of these guys for Gaffney back. Probably Alleyne.

Are you high?

 

[UofCT]

No need to shorten but a different starting lineup is needed

Play to our strengths. Go big, play the shooters.

 

[REB1094]

There’s not much to shorten. Despite his flaws, Newton is the best of the group. Diarra is good situationally when we need rugged defense, but he’s an offensive liability. Joey is also situational, when he’s hitting his shots it’s worth losing out on his defensive issues. But that’s only if he’s hitting his shots.

We don’t have a single PG that we can ride with. It’s all situational, “PG by committee”. Not ideal but it’s what we have. I do think the best fix here is to get on Newton hard in practices and incentivize him to play a little more selfishly when our offense is flat. We know he can score, but it’s far too inconsistent right now. Sometimes it looks like he’s not even pretending to look for a shot.

The other fix would be a lineup change with AJax at PG and then probably Alleyne at the 3, then have all three PGs off the bench situationally. AJax at PG doesn’t solve the problem of the lack of driving and scoring, but at least he plays with a purpose and shows the best ability to adapt to game flow instead of going through motions. Might be worth trying out during some of the easier BE games coming up

 

[Umami Zen]

No sense is shortening the rotation when no one is playing well.

I have a serious question for you because I know you coach the game and this particular issue drives me crazy with these guys. If I'm being unrealistic.. Please tell me.. In our last few games.. When we're getting into our half court sets.. The dribbler of the ball.. Usually Andre or TN.. Has tight D on them.. Is looking to begin the set.. And there is no eye contact from the other guys and/or they are concentrating on executing their role in the set and really not paying attention to the ball handler.. They are not providing an outlet or target for the "PG" to deliver them the ball.. Thus extending the set later into the shot clock..The "PG" is forced to continue dribbling until the set is completed or breaks down. We do not have an improviser/shot-maker this year that can break down a defender to get their shot off.. We seem to be scrambling to get a shot off late in the clock.

My question is..As a practice..Aren't players taught to be facing the ball once they're over half-court(or even before) so that they can accept a pass and/or get into their set but with "ready hands" and eyes open?? Sometimes it looks like they're just going through the motions.

 

[OkaForPrez]

they all just having problems shooting. Which is a big part of basketball from what I understand.

We actually have trouble driving, not shooting. The team is built based on "Good Shot" analytics - at the rim and behind the arc. The problem as constructed is if you don't have a 2nd level threat the rest of the offense breaks down. Great defensive teams (which Marquette is one of) can overplay you on the 3rd level so tightly that you can't get a good shot. It also makes it very difficult to make an entry pass (like the one that was picked off when hawk was stumbling) and turns into run outs for the other team.

It's a defensive overplay that is typically punished with dribble penetration. If someone's in your jersey it should be easier to take them off the dribble, turn the corner and open up the offense. We simply haven't been able to.

Newtown doesn't have that gear. Jackson doesn't have that gear. Diarra does but once he goes he's not usually driving to pass.

Providence employed this too. It's the next counter punch to our style. The first was don't guard Jackson and we were starting to break down that countermeasure.

I believe that we will find a way to X and O out of this overplay as well. We just haven't had enough time to install it in practice since we've faced it.

I would be trying out two lineups as we get into the softer part of our schedule:

Diarra, Newt, Hawk, Jackson, Adama or Clingan

I like this as an antidote lineup for the increased level 3 pressure for Diarra's ability to drive it and his defensive disruption. I think Newt can be more effective off ball and I think Jackson can guard the 4's more effectively than karaban. It puts a lot of pressure on Hawk defensively, but I think that is offset by teams struggling with Diarra's ball pressure.

I'd also try out Diarra, Hawk, Jackson, AK, Adama or Clingan

And bring newt off the bench. Newt's strength is creating his own shot, not for others. I'd like to see that when our primary offense hits the bench.

And what I'm flirting with above, and I know it will be controversial, is that Clingan with the first lineup and adama with the 2nd might be best for both. Clingan doesn't need as much space so replacing a shooter with a ball handler is okay. Newt and Adama as the change up might open both up. And yes I'm aware that Adama just scored 26.

 

[Apollo]

I’d like to see Diarra get a start. Newton isn’t doing much. Diarra will get us stellar energy and D. He’s a great distributor as well. Just tell him to really pick his places to shoot. When you need O or a steadying presence bring in Joey or Newton accordingly

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Blowing up the entire season game plan because UConn lost a game is a good way to make sure UConn loses more games.

 

[Apollo]

Blowing up the entire season game plan because UConn lost a game is a good way to make sure UConn loses more games.

*3 of 4

 

[Chin Diesel]

So, about 2/3 the way through regular season.

Which guards or wings have played well enough to deserve 20 mpg every game going forward?

 

[Hoophound]

Alleyne probably needs more minutes. He can do a lot of the things we lack. He drives, defends, rebounds and he’s historically been a pretty good shooter. Maybe he’s the guy that can really help us. He’s got to get his confidence back.

The coaches need to help Alleyne and Newton be at least what they’ve already shown they can be elsewhere. They shouldn’t come here and become hot garbage. That’s not a good look for us.

 

[80shusky]

We actually have trouble driving, not shooting. The team is built based on "Good Shot" analytics - at the rim and behind the arc. The problem as constructed is if you don't have a 2nd level threat the rest of the offense breaks down. Great defensive teams (which Marquette is one of) can overplay you on the 3rd level so tightly that you can't get a good shot. It also makes it very difficult to make an entry pass (like the one that was picked off when hawk was stumbling) and turns into run outs for the other team.

It's a defensive overplay that is typically punished with dribble penetration. If someone's in your jersey it should be easier to take them off the dribble, turn the corner and open up the offense. We simply haven't been able to.

Newtown doesn't have that gear. Jackson doesn't have that gear. Diarra does but once he goes he's not usually driving to pass.

Providence employed this too. It's the next counter punch to our style. The first was don't guard Jackson and we were starting to break down that countermeasure.

I believe that we will find a way to X and O out of this overplay as well. We just haven't had enough time to install it in practice since we've faced it.

I would be trying out two lineups as we get into the softer part of our schedule:

Diarra, Newt, Hawk, Jackson, Adama or Clingan

I like this as an antidote lineup for the increased level 3 pressure for Diarra's ability to drive it and his defensive disruption. I think Newt can be more effective off ball and I think Jackson can guard the 4's more effectively than karaban. It puts a lot of pressure on Hawk defensively, but I think that is offset by teams struggling with Diarra's ball pressure.

I'd also try out Diarra, Hawk, Jackson, AK, Adama or Clingan

And bring newt off the bench. Newt's strength is creating his own shot, not for others. I'd like to see that when our primary offense hits the bench.

And what I'm flirting with above, and I know it will be controversial, is that Clingan with the first lineup and adama with the 2nd might be best for both. Clingan doesn't need as much space so replacing a shooter with a ball handler is okay. Newt and Adama as the change up might open both up. And yes I'm aware that Adama just scored 26.

This. I said similar in another post. Guards need to go to the hoop or the defense will be in your face on the perimeter all day.

 

[80shusky]

Right now keep playing everybody. Keep the hot hands in. No one is lighting it up.

 

[MuchoDogYears]

Move Newton to shooting guard, off the bench. Clingan takes his starter minutes.

AJax needs to be the PG. Can’t continue having Tristan take 15 seconds slowly backing the ball up the court then handing it off. Need AJax pushing the ball up the court in 4 seconds and firing a pass to a wing or dropping a dime inside.

 

[Billy Jack]

If you want your guards to attack the basket, a team needs to spread the floor and open up the middle. Villanova under Jay Wright did this beautifully. They posted up their guards all the time - from Scottie Reynolds’s to Jalen Brunson to Colin Gillespie.

Our problem is not just our guards. Villanova’s centers could almost always pop our onto the perimeter and make shots from out there. Regardless of which center we use, they are both planted on the low post 90% of the time - along with their defender. Which makes it a lot harder to attack the basket because the middle is rarely open.

Centers must be able to pass. They must be able to come out from the low post at least to the foul line to open up lanes to the basket. Our guys do that not so much.

 

[Improviser]

Since Sanogo can make a 3, and since he often catches the ball between the low post and the foul line, whatever this area is called , and then usually backs his man down or 2 men down, when he gets the ball in the area why can't he initially turn and face and make some 2's to open up the lane?

Wasn't that what Zach Randolph did?

In other words, is he not able to do a pick and pop? Yes, he is a bull inside and makes tough shots, but also gets stripped a fair amount.