The Difference

[shazzketball]

 

[UConnMike04]

Also biggest diff was 5 total point from our bench, and even that was in about a 20 second span. Bouk, Gaffney, Adams each have one bucket we win.

 

[Spaceman213J]

I would like to see Adams starting over Vital at this point. I know Hurley loves Vital's toughness, but there has to be a line.

Also, I'm glad to see Carlton get 18, but he needs to be more efficient. He had 4 turnovers himself and a handful of very bad defensive plays. It's not that much of a net gain in the end.

 

[MDHuskFan]

It could also have been the 22 at the bottom. I get it CV turned the ball over. I get it, Cv had the most crucial turnovers.....

let’s not pretend that the whole team was playing fantastically though and he was the ice man stopping everything. Our 3 highest usage players had 14 TO’s and then our bench guards in limited time had another6

 

[YoungFree]

View attachment 49055

What about only 5 points from the bench?

 

[UCfor3]

The Vital missed free throws were costly. He is usually at least good from the line when he goes spastic mode.

 

[Shine33]

We don’t have enough offensive fire power. We have to start playing Bouk more in these types of games. I want the ball in his hands in the crucial minutes

 

[RF79]

We played like the team we’ve been watching for the last three seasons. There’s no way you can win a game when you give your opposition 22 extra possessions!!

 

[XLCenterFan]

Also, there was no reason to basically pull the entire starting 5 (minus Josh) when we were up 9 early. We lost big Mo.

 

[pj]

Bottom line, CV and AG need to mature and lose their losing ways / bad habit of playing hero ball. And their backups, Gaffney, Adams, and Bouk, need to develop and become adequate replacements.

The two go together. If you have solid replacements, you can sit CV and AG and send a stronger message.

Season hinges on the guards. Good news is the frontcourt is competitive.

 

[Hankster]

We played like the team we’ve been watching for the last three seasons. There’s no way you can win a game when you give your opposition 22 extra possessions!!

I understand the 22 TO's. But your comment about seeing the same team the last three seasons is way out there. My guess is you haven't watched much UConn BB. To me this team did a 180 compared to last three seasons. Getting blown out by Florida School of Hairdressing years ago to going toe to toe with better teams?

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

For the first 39:45 of every game when we need a 3 it’s Polley and he hits it. Get the man the ball!

 

[jibsey]

We don’t have enough offensive fire power. We have to start playing Bouk more in these types of games. I want the ball in his hands in the crucial minutes

So you’re saying maybe run some offense for Bouk to create his own shot rather than letting Gilbert and Vital just throw the ball away?

 

[Stinger92860]

Also, there was no reason to basically pull the entire starting 5 (minus Josh) when we were up 9 early. We lost big Mo.

polley had just hit 2 threes and he came out. Unfortunately we didn’t get much from the bencf except for Wilson

 

[Austin316]

Also, there was no reason to basically pull the entire starting 5 (minus Josh) when we were up 9 early. We lost big Mo.

If they scored it would have been a good move. our bench has typically been really productive, it just wasn’t our night.

Both teams guards played bad. Akok, Josh, and Polley were our best players. Sid IMO played pretty well too. We lost because of turnovers and Hoosier pressure on the guards to get to the rim/make plays.

 

[RipCity]

I don’t get why Hurley ever lets Vital run the point. The kid dribbles with his palms like he’s a center or TSam.

 

[Palatine]

Half of those TOs were guys trying to get the ball to Carlton. More if you add in Carlton's 4 TO. Josh was settling for position way too far from the basket. He has to dig in, get closer and in better position to receive the ball. It was a group effort.

And they did a wonderful job keeping the guards out of the lane. Our guards had no easy shots. We needed some lay ups, back doors and lobs. A couple of fast breaks wouldn't have hurt. They just flat out played us and took us out of our offense.