H
huskymagic
The loss to Syracuse revealed many problems with our team, and some positives. The positive it revealed is that Hamilton is the star and Alpha of this team, and will need to take the initiative to settle our team when players start panicking. Hamilton and Brimah are the 2 most important players on our team.
Brimah was also a positive. Stairmaster and others need to take a does of reality pill. Brimah positively impactd the game when playing, when we went to a small ball lineup, Syracuse was killing us with switches and made the freshman Lydon look like an All-American posting up on smaller guys or wide open 3's. Brimah and Facey were both net positives. We are not Villanova and should not play small ball as it doesn't work 99% of the time against real competition.
Problems--Kevin Ollie inserting bench players when we were up 17-9 was unnecessary and foolish. UCONN has never thrived as a team that inserts and changes players every 5 minutes. There were no adjustments either on offense or more importantly on defense which was pathetic. Our defense was a huge problem, and the main reason we lost the game. Purvis compounded the problems with terrible free throw shooting, and a horrible display of panicking drives and turnover kickouts to Syracuse players. He needs to display much more composure and discipline for a player with his experience.
Sterling Gibb defense was terrible on Cooney, and his lack of footspeed or willingness to drive was another problem. Our zone offense has been horrendous the last 2 years. Passing the ball around the perimeter is not offense. We should have set screens at the top of the circle with Gibbs, Purvis, or Hamilton driving and getting into the teeth of the zone for easy layups, dunks, and open shots.
--Jalen Adams needs to step it up as well. He is being too tentative and scared to shoot or drive. He needs to pick his head up and play with aggression and determination. Syracuse's freshman outplayed him by a big margin and that shouldn't happen.
Brimah was also a positive. Stairmaster and others need to take a does of reality pill. Brimah positively impactd the game when playing, when we went to a small ball lineup, Syracuse was killing us with switches and made the freshman Lydon look like an All-American posting up on smaller guys or wide open 3's. Brimah and Facey were both net positives. We are not Villanova and should not play small ball as it doesn't work 99% of the time against real competition.
Problems--Kevin Ollie inserting bench players when we were up 17-9 was unnecessary and foolish. UCONN has never thrived as a team that inserts and changes players every 5 minutes. There were no adjustments either on offense or more importantly on defense which was pathetic. Our defense was a huge problem, and the main reason we lost the game. Purvis compounded the problems with terrible free throw shooting, and a horrible display of panicking drives and turnover kickouts to Syracuse players. He needs to display much more composure and discipline for a player with his experience.
Sterling Gibb defense was terrible on Cooney, and his lack of footspeed or willingness to drive was another problem. Our zone offense has been horrendous the last 2 years. Passing the ball around the perimeter is not offense. We should have set screens at the top of the circle with Gibbs, Purvis, or Hamilton driving and getting into the teeth of the zone for easy layups, dunks, and open shots.
--Jalen Adams needs to step it up as well. He is being too tentative and scared to shoot or drive. He needs to pick his head up and play with aggression and determination. Syracuse's freshman outplayed him by a big margin and that shouldn't happen.
