the offense

[Dann]

no, this is the correct board for this post.

so moving on now as i have ball fever around this time of year. usually its endless threads of 5 man rotations and things like that but considering the off season we had its completely understandable what the board has been focused on. that being said i want to talk about our O.

where it was the past 20 years
what it became last year
where its going.

KO has hinted that he wants to go back to a more classic uconn. a little press or atleast man pick up earlier and he wants to push it. if true, i would be a huge fan of this style. we used to kill it with this style and as JC got older he seemed to slowly get away from this style a bit. it was prob a combination of the players he had and the ast coaches he had i would think but there were times last year i with we ran the ball down teams throats and we didn't. we just threw the ball around. a big part of the probelm last year was that we had 10 really d1 guys on the roster, but 3 or 4 of the more important players of that 10 were very raw, the result of that was plays not being able to get done or just inexpierence on the O end overall. as result we relied out our guards to bail us out to much and you can't blame them. they kew if the ball went into the post ad was getting his shot blocked on a fade or to would get hammered and make 1 of 2. that kind of raw (i'm not ripping kids in any way btw just talking what i saw).

this year we are not going to be as raw, but were also not going to have as much scoring power. i have faith that boat and bazz at any time can take over games, i am also very high on omar. he may not be a stud right away but he is the real deal imho. we know what were getting in gif and if you have seen or read about evans you know we have a nice uper class kid who will be a solid 6 man type for us and a leader. i'm worried about the 4/5 just like everyone else as this may be where we are raw again. i hope for another solid improvement from olander in year 3. if he continues his trend he will be a nice story here over 4 years. anything chuck like or better from wolf and we could have something interesting on our hands.

the key to this year is the development of daniels. the kid was ultra raw. stick body, slick handle and streaky shooter. he he hits the weight room and gym this summer as we all hope, we could have a swag stud on our hands at sf. he i believe is the key to us having a good season considering what our season will be. he would give us a 123 puch that only a handful of ncaa teams could match up with. its a big if and i think he is the ? that will make or break this year. if he is the real deal i would take bazz/boat/omar/evans/dd/gif as our 123 depth any year. that power 123 could hide our post troubles.

i expect tod/nolan to be raw but have some faith that nolan may be a player in time.

with that being said. what does our O look like this year?

my hope is that KO really does run and press. i think letting our 123 combo run wild may be our best game on O this year. your thoughts?

 

[champs99and04]

Is it absurd to think that our offense could be really good this year? Defensively this team is undoubtedly going to have problems, but can we name three Big East teams with more offensive potential? I mean, sure, we're small as hell, but every year in college basketball you see an embarrassingly small starting five that manages to win a hell of a lot more games than they should because they create turnovers, move the ball, and can shoot the lights out of the ball. Couldn't that be UConn this year?

UConn has two guys (maybe three if Omar is as good as advertised) who can get their shot WHENEVER they want. That's a huge advantage in its own right, and when you have the court vision to go along with it, that makes the offense as a whole very difficult to defend. People are going to have reserves about Olander, and I get that, but is he not a substantial improvement offensively over what Oriakhi give us last year? The kid has some skill offensively - I expect him to surprise people next year.

As you mentioned, Deandre Daniels is the x-factor. Last season he was a huge disappointment. I seriously thought he was going to be one of the best offensive players in his class, but he was virtually a non-entity last year. If he can bulk up, develop his mid-range game, and hit some threes, that would be great for the offense. Giffey is certainly another quality piece who can come off the bench, defend, make the right pass, and hit the open three. He's the type of player every team needs.

Last season's offense was stagnant, clumsy, and they just didn't fit together. I think the chemistry on this years team will be a lot better, the ball movement will be worlds better, and the shooting will be improved. They could potentially trot out a lineup of Boatright, Napier, Calhoun, Daniels, and Olander and really scare some people with their explosiveness. Three, maybe four of those guys can handle the ball and get to the basket, they can all shoot, and they can move the ball. It certainly will be a different flavored UConn team than we're accustomed to seeing, but they'll be a lot more fun to watch offensively than what we've seen the past few years IMO.

 

[mauconnfan]

Agree with these 2 good posts and interesting points.........the only thing we lose offensively from last years team is the threat of the alley pop at times........but as nice as that is our guards at times became enamored and threw the ball away. It was good to keep the opposition on their toes and pushed back defensively to help out when AD was on baseline, but really that's all we lose. I will not go into the inept abilities of our back-to-the basket interior play as it was evident to all.......our guards didn't want to throw it into the black hole.

The gains are greater than the losses offensively at least it would seem that way, especially with spot up shooters on the court. Additions of Nolan, Torksdorf and even Wolf gives you the option to have a shooter at the foul line along with Tyler O.......we may not improve our interior play per se because these guys as of now don't have a great back-to-the-basket resume either, but at least they can make a medium range jump shot something we lacked severely last year from our bigs........I expect Deandre to improve and hopefully bring some mid range to his game as well as a confident 3 stroke........We know Giff can make the 3 and should get more chances and if he can gain confidence in his ball handling I think he can get it to the rim also....love his offensive rebounding ability always around the ball.

The guard will be a handful despite the size issues.......Shabazz has proven to be capable to scorer the ball, can hit and wants to take the big shots and I have always admired that in him (i know we all want to see better decisions but both of these guys have an edge and take some chances and there's thin line we need to live with but improvement in that area may come this year with maturity) and Boat is seemingly ready to break out and become the scorer we saw. With the opportunity to start the year with the team rather than walk in late as last year, he no longer needs to "fit in" but instead is confident of what he can do with the ball. Obviously we know he's an athlete and a half so he can and will get to the rim, but his 3 ball and mid range game look vastly improved.......Omar is an unknown only because he is a freshman but his confidence and physical abilities lend me to believe he will be the real deal from day 1........he can shoot it and get to the rim and his size will be a breath of fresh air while allowing them to play 3 guards and push the ball a little more.....if he can rebound the basketball from the wing he will get substantial time as a frosh........RJ brings the experience and size also for a guy who can get to the hole. This is a key addition for a young team who will try to find their identity as well as chemistry early in the season. He will have ability to come in and settle the troops down when needed both in game and verbally I believe.......Holy Cross or not, 3 years of college hoops against some nice competition will be a huge plus from these guys moving forward and he did score 16 against us!!!!

I like the potential offensively and mostly because now you have to D the guards without slacking and if the D helps down low our bigs can step out and make a shot rather than throwing it to a black hole of sorts. We'll see but I expect some fun times on offense and if people are making shots, some numbers we haven't seen as of late.

Now D and rebounding is for another thread.........LOL

 

[KembaSlice]

I have have heard there is some bad blood between shabazz and boat. Hopefully they are just rumors and won't affect the chemistry of the team.

 

[Waquoit]

I have have heard there is some bad blood between shabazz and boat. Hopefully they are just rumors and won't affect the chemistry of the team.

Two guys with the same game that both want the ball and like to launch 25-footers at will? How could that possibly affect team chemistry?

Our offense will be maddening this year. What was Bazz' epic cold streak last year? 2-25 or something like that? How many games have we seen over the last few years where everything goes in and we take a double-digit lead up to the 12:00 timeout only to crap the bed the rest of the game? That's the facts of life for a jump shooting team.

To steal some games against the iron, we will need to press. The problem is that the press is hard work. Too often once the 1st trap is broken, the press breaks down. In the press used by the 89-90 team, the 1st trap was only the beginning. Most of those steals came after the 1st trap. Will KO be able to get these guys to do the grunt work necessary in a season that has no chance of a post-season payoff at the end? If he can, that would be showing some coaching chops.

 

[mauconnfan]

Two guys with the same game that both want the ball and like to launch 25-footers at will? How could that possibly affect team chemistry?

Our offense will be maddening this year. What was Bazz' epic cold streak last year? 2-25 or something like that? How many games have we seen over the last few years where everything goes in and we take a double-digit lead up to the 12:00 timeout only to crap the bed the rest of the game? That's the facts of life for a jump shooting team.

To steal some games against the iron, we will need to press. The problem is that the press is hard work. Too often once the 1st trap is broken, the press breaks down. In the press used by the 89-90 team, the 1st trap was only the beginning. Most of those steals came after the 1st trap. Will KO be able to get these guys to do the grunt work necessary in a season that has no chance of a post-season payoff at the end? If he can, that would be showing some coaching chops.

Yeah the first trap or the pass which resulted form the 1st trap quite often with Henefeld and Burrell the beneficiaries........two things of note regarding this.......

1) Smith and Tate knew when and when not to trap along with the fact Tate was 6'5 and Chris was 6'2 with real long arms which made people throw some balloons on their next pass.....

2) Henefeld and Burrell were uncanny with their ability to anticipate..........

 

[Huskies4ever]

Yeah the first trap or the pass which resulted form the 1st trap quite often with Henefeld and Burrell the beneficiaries........two things of note regarding this.......

1) Smith and Tate knew when and when not to trap along with the fact Tate was 6'5 and Chris was 6'2 with real long arms which made people throw some balloons on their next pass.....

2) Henefeld and Burrell were uncanny with their ability to anticipate..........

That team was a defensive machine, and then some. But ironically, they were maddening offensively. They gave up so many big leads that year.

 

[mauconnfan]

That team was a defensive machine, and then some. But ironically, they were maddening offensively. They gave up so many big leads that year.

Good point, they needed their defense to create points as Smitty was only the real consistent legit scoring threat.......Tate was okay as were Nadav and Scottie......the rest was a crap shoot but the defense was definitely the biggest impact!! Almost forgot about our own little Microwave Johnny Gwynn....

 

[Huskies4ever]

Good point, they needed their defense to create points as Smitty was only the real consistent legit scoring threat.......Tate was okay as were Nadav and Scottie......the rest was a crap shoot but the defense was definitely the biggest impact!! Almost forgot about our own little Microwave Johnny Gwynn....

Remember the thread where we were discussing the great call by Mike Gorman UConn vs GTown Dream Season video? Well the video has a snippet of the commentators pregame. It was Gorman and Clark Kellogg. Kellogg says; "A quick start by Connecticut could lead to a tight game tonight." Remember, if GTown wins, they are no. 1 in the country. Then UConn goes up 12-0, but GTown gets right back in it. And it ends up being a tight game, indeed.

 

[CTBasketball]

If we have the horses, let em' run.

 

[mauconnfan]

Remember the thread where we were discussing the great call by Mike Gorman UConn vs GTown Dream Season video? Well the video has a snippet of the commentators pregame. It was Gorman and Clark Kellogg. Kellogg says; "A quick start by Connecticut could lead to a tight game tonight." Remember, if GTown wins, they are no. 1 in the country. Then UConn goes up 12-0, but GTown gets right back in it. And it ends up being a tight game, indeed.

Absolutely and one other game of note due to a stagnant stretch on O, 19 pt lead......"The Shot".....LOL

 

[Waquoit]

Good point, they needed their defense to create points as Smitty was only the real consistent legit scoring threat...

Exactly. And along with the other threads about great UConn players, now seems like a good time to bring up the most forgotten big shot in UConn history. Smitty's 3 with time running out to send the Duke game into OT.