The only thing this team doesn't have

[nelsonmuntz]

We don't have a guy who we want to iso 20 possessions a game, but who wants that kind of offense? Quite frankly, in 2014 we won on the back of our defense, FT shooting, and hero ball, and the latter is not something you can count on in a championship formula.

What we do have is 3-4 guys who you're comfortable having the ball in their hands in those (hopefully) rare situations where the shot clock is running down and you need to make something happen. And that's good enough. Hell, we even had a few occasions where we just threw it up on the rim and Clingan, Jackson, Karaban, or Newton just went and got it for an extra possession.

Agree. It is not 1995, and offenses are no longer about getting the ball into your best player's hands and clearing out. Every modern offense emphasizes ball movement and quick reversals to force defenses to move and adjust quickly, because that creates defensive mistakes.

 

[RedStickHusky]

Diarra says hello! Splash!

I hope so.

 

[Scrutineer]

Great coaches spend some time giving praise and thanks for great efforts and winning games and championships and then roll right into focusing on areas that need to be addressed if the team is to achieve that "special goal".
One would be inbounding the ball (ISU seemed to have us befuddled a number of times) and another would be avoiding double teams on sideline/endline possessions where on multiple occasions AS was double teamed in those situations.

 

[Icehawk]

Where did Bouknight get us? I'll take 3 guys who can handle the ball and drive 90% as good and provide team synergy over a "super star" any day of the week.

With 3s to go? Newton may not make his shot but he WILL get a foul drawn so I have every confidence there, and if not give it to Joey Buckets.

Iowa played crazy tough D IMO and we did fine, the area that I think needs improvement is getting out of the trap - even Clingan got trapped once and he's a skyscraper.

 

[Senor Blue]

No team is ever going to be "perfect" - you just have to find ways to make up for deficiencies. The best teams can do that and be flexible in winning different ways. I.e. if a team takes away the paint, you can shoot. If a team suffocates you in half court, you can run.

That iso guy is a nice idea to have, but very rarely do those teams go deep into March. Sure, Kemba was "the guy" in 2011 - but he was a historically good player. Most of the guys averaging 24 a game play in trash conferences, not the Big East.

Give me a team that's balanced and can score a bunch of different ways. There's 3 different guys each capable of scoring at 3 different levels.

It's going to be a nightmare to try and guard UConn this year.

 

[gsmooth]

Yeah one thing that's amazing about this team is how many B+ ball handlers we have. Even AJax can bring the ball up the court, which is really impressive, that we can move the ball around and forward like that.

Perhaps the game has moved on to a point where you simply don't need an elite PG or you can have enough other skills that it doesn't really matter and you can find other ways to win.

I think AJax is going to be a key figure in breaking down pressure defense. Not only is his ball handling great, but his floor vision is second to none.

 

[UC4L]

 

[MexicoHusky]

An elite ball handler.

We don't have someone like Kemba or Shabazz who can beat anybody one-on-one and safely bring the ball up no matter what. Even a Khalid El-Amin type who might not necessarily be the best scorer on the floor but is a floor general.

It's literally the only weakness I see on this team in March, where if we come up against elite ball-defenders, we will sometimes have issues, like we did against ISU.

We still won the game, and hey, you probably don't need and A+ in every category. Just something I've noticed.

True, but at that point we would be discussing where this team belongs on the list of best teams ever. That's assuming we retain the rest of the current team in this hypothetical scenario

 

[CL82]

How many days after a game am I allowed to point out any weakness in the game? Just let me know. two, three days? What's the statute of limitations?

Three. And anything you say might be used against you in the courts of Boneyard justice. The statute of limitations is the dead weekend before March madness. If you aren’t hung by then the odds are we will forget about your post.

 

[CL82]

We need the guys to fill the role of Taliek Brown. I don't know if he was considered an elite ball handler but he would run, run and run resulting in UCONN's all-time assists leader. That's all we need.

I don’t know, I’m enjoying it the outlet passes. I’ve yet to see a player who can run faster than a pass.

 

[Stinger92860]

Diarra is a very good ball handler, and Newton doesn't have a great first step, but he has elite ability to protect the ball, which means he doesn't need one. Jackson is actually flashing some slick ball handling, but we need to see him put it to use.

These 3 can get it done. I think AJ may be our best handle guy against a press. Plus we have some excellent BBIQ in Karaban and Joey C. And when DC is on the floor he is a guy you can advance the ball to, up high. While we don’t have Boat, Bazz, Kemba, or KA, I think the sum of the parts are much better than average.

 

[Cagey_Tee]

No one takes the ball away from Jackson. He will throw it away from time to time but that is is judgement not ability. He is very high end ball handler.

Only outside of the foul line. He is terrible close up - dribbles wildly, loses it, turns it over much to frequently - I think it's because he seems very reluctant to take the shot/finish himself.