There is no reason to play Gaff and Polley | Page 2 | The Boneyard

There is no reason to play Gaff and Polley

husky429 said:
Polley is getting the same treatment Brendan Adams got last year... way too long of a leash just because he's a senior.
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Sends a bad message to the younger kids
 
Can’t agree more. Play the younger guys. It’ll be better for us in the long run.
 
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UncleSpliff said:
If it hasn’t happened for Gaffney by now it’s not going too. He’s the same player he was when he stepped on to campus. He offers very little offensively and defensively. His getting beat baseline by Durham down 2 to put them up 4, then taking the ball up court and wasting 20 seconds off the shot clock with 40 seconds left looking completely clueless is his game in a nutshell. He ain’t the guy and Hawkins needs to get all his minutes going forward.
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^^^THIS Bingo^^^
 
Send Polley to the gym and tell him to make 200 threes everyday of practice before he leaves.
 
NH Husky said:
Send Polley to the gym and tell him to make 200 threes everyday of practice before he leaves.
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And half of the of the team to make baskets from the foul line or Santa Clause ain’t gonna come down their chimemney.. .
 
We know Polley can shoot we’ve seen it. But he’s in an absolute funk since the Auburn game. He should get time but if he’s throwing up el kabongs like tonight he needs less minutes no other way around it. Not a good defender and doesn’t rebound so why? And Gaff is an enigma. Talented but it just doesn’t show up in big games every. Excuse me he played well against Maryland someone will remind me. Tonight he was dreadful on both ends. I thought we had depth??
 
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Letsgohuskies11 said:
He just plays way too many minutes for what you get. 5th year and there's virtually 0 improvement from last season
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This might be crazy, but I think he has somehow possibly even regressed a little. At least last season when Bouk was out polley won us a game or two as well as hit the boards between bricks, now its just the bricks.
 
mauconnfan said:
We know Polley can shoot we’ve seen it. But he’s in an absolute funk since the Auburn game. He should get time but if he’s throwing up el kabongs like tonight he needs less minutes no other way around it. Not a good defender and doesn’t rebound so why? And Gaff is an enigma. Talented but it just doesn’t show up in big games every. Excuse me he played well against Maryland someone will remind me. Tonight he was dreadful on both ends. I thought we had depth??
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Polley can "shoot" in a practice, spot up no pressure scenario. He is the LA Fitness gym shooter, but the shots he takes in games are off the dribble or while rolling through a screen off motion, even when he gets good looks on these with little coverage he still misses wide right. He is just not at the level of skill for the way we utilize him on our team, not even close. And the problem is amplified by the fact that outside of Polley, no one else on the roster besides RJ (who needs to set up the shot) is able to shoot even half decently from outside the arc.

We have our best shooter, way in over his head at the simple task of shooting the 3s we get open for him, and the next best guy is a mile below him even. Roster is just not built right for what's expected of them, this is a roster for 1993.
 
Tenspro2002 said:
Akok's problem is he doesn't have a role on offense.

He's too skinny to be a post-up guy.

He doesn't have the handle to take anyone, even bigs, off the dribble.

He can shoot 3's, but you wouldn't hunt shots for him off of screens like we do for Polley (though to be honest I feel like this is part of the problem for Polley, a lot of his attempts are forced, while moving, and 3-4 feet behind the line).
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Polley is terrible on d and a similar shooter (at least by percentage). I can’t understand the rotation, at this point.
 
Plenty of blame to go around on this one. You can't shoot that poorly and expect to win. Gonna be that way all season. We lose if everyone goes cold at the same time.
 
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mauconnfan said:
We know Polley can shoot we’ve seen it. But he’s in an absolute funk since the Auburn game. He should get time but if he’s throwing up el kabongs like tonight he needs less minutes no other way around it. Not a good defender and doesn’t rebound so why? And Gaff is an enigma. Talented but it just doesn’t show up in big games every. Excuse me he played well against Maryland someone will remind me. Tonight he was dreadful on both ends. I thought we had depth??
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Yep we h@ve dept it just stayed down in the deep.
 
We all know Polley probably hits every three in practice but can’t do it consistently in games. His shooting form is too good not to make more shots. Hurley has to play Hawkins over him. Is Hurley going to be loyal to him or care more about winning games - we’ll see.
 
Polley has a couple loud games each year that skew peoples’ views on his shooting ability. Truth is he’s not a good shooter. He’s an average shooter at best. Last year 49 players in the BE took more than two 3-pointers per game and Polley’s 35.5% was right in the middle of the pack.

He doesn’t do anything else well. The fact that young guys are rotting on the bench in favor of him is mind-boggling. I really hope the explanation is that Hurley is loyal, not clueless.
 
BUConn10 said:
Polley can "shoot" in a practice, spot up no pressure scenario. He is the LA Fitness gym shooter, but the shots he takes in games are off the dribble or while rolling through a screen off motion, even when he gets good looks on these with little coverage he still misses wide right. He is just not at the level of skill for the way we utilize him on our team, not even close. And the problem is amplified by the fact that outside of Polley, no one else on the roster besides RJ (who needs to set up the shot) is able to shoot even half decently from outside the arc.

We have our best shooter, way in over his head at the simple task of shooting the 3s we get open for him, and the next best guy is a mile below him even. Roster is just not built right for what's expected of them, this is a roster for 1993.
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Getting torched for 39 points by Lindsey Hunter and Jackson State in the NIT first round was a bit more humbling than tonight. But seriously, I would take ‘93’s top 7 of Donyell, Donnie, Ollie, Travis, ScottyB, Brian Fair and Cup Cormier over this roster’s top 7 every time. You had some one-dimensional guys like Ollie and Fair, but they were quite proficient in their defined roles.
 
More Zeros for Polley tonight...
Zero turnovers...
Zero times did the guy he was guarding score.
He was guarding Horchler most of the game. The only time Horchler made a basket was when Polley had to cover Coswell under the because Akok was lost in left field on defense (again). Not even sure if we saw Akok after that lapse.

Look Polley didn't play well. Whaley and Akok sucked on defense tonight. Martin and Jackson blew defensive assignments too. RJ and Gaffeney stunk too. Everyone stunk. Hurley has zero clue how to coach offense. His lack of preparing our team has become more glaring. No gripes about defense. Same ole Kevin Ollie offense and cluelessness.
 
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gtcam said:
Just saw Gaff was 0-5 and had 5 turnovers yet he is controlling the ball in the final seconds
Who makes these decisions??????
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He was only in there at that point because Martin cramped up and was getting looked at on the bench.
 
JMick said:
I don't agree. I think he's a dude that just has it or doesn't. Throw him in when you need some offense, give him a few minutes. If the threes are going down then keep him in. Otherwise nail him to the bench and play someone else.
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Was at the game today and something i noticed live that i never really noticed on tv is Polley is absolutely atrocious and getting his shot off after getting a screen. He is sloppy and slow. Saw him get about 3 decent screens and he simply couldnt get the shot off quick enough because he couldnt set his feet quick enough giving the defender time to recover. Defensively he was terrible. If hes not hitting from the outside there is no reason for him to be in.
I absolutely agree and have felt the same since last year on how to manage his playing time. YOu are spot on.
 
EastConn'er said:
More Zeros for Polley tonight...
Zero turnovers...
Zero times did the guy he was guarding score.
He was guarding Horchler most of the game. The only time Horchler made a basket was when Polley had to cover Coswell under the because Akok was lost in left field on defense (again). Not even sure if we saw Akok after that lapse.

Look Polley didn't play well. Whaley and Akok sucked on defense tonight. Martin and Jackson blew defensive assignments too. RJ and Gaffeney stunk too. Everyone stunk. Hurley has zero clue how to coach offense. His lack of preparing our team has become more glaring. No gripes about defense. Same ole Kevin Ollie offense and cluelessness.
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Are you Polleys cousin? He wasn’t good at all on defense. When they had chances to trap during the comeback he didn’t cut off the sideline twice and force the dribble to stop. He isn’t close to the defender Whaley is and Whaley had to help on his guy 2-3 times enabling Others to score. Polley didn’t play well is well short of how bad he was in his minutes. Of course he didn’t turn it over he doesn’t do anything with the ball unless he’s shooting it. How many rebounds? Don’t sugarcoat how bad he was. He and Gaff killed them more than anyone and both played too many minutes tonight no doubt!
 
CV1 said:
He was only in there at that point because Martin cramped up and was getting looked at on the bench.
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not only that but he gets minutes because hes the only other ball handler we have that Dan Hurley trusts.
 
I'm thrilled we're fighting in every game.
I'm thrilled about our recruiting success and prospects
We've had huge defensive improvement since the 3pt barrage we endured a couple years ago to start the season.

Nevertheless, I need to spit into the wind for a second

Repeating Failed Strategy
I've got to rewatch the last possessions of the Michigan State game in comparison to our last possessions of this Providence game. I must have missed the improvement. We couldn't have put the ball in Gaffney's hands a second time to dribble away the game when we needed to score quickly. There must have been strategic improvement and better execution than I noticed watching it live. I assume Gaffney knew we weren't trying to dribble out the clock? Maybe have a plan B where to go with the ball? Just a thought. (As a wild idea, maybe even have Cole handle the ball and make decisions at the end)

Sticking with What Isn't Working
Maybe Diggins isn't ready, but why are we not giving the kid any chance at all? I'm not down on Gaffney's capabilities but I am down on his current play. It sure is obvious he doesn't get us into offensive sets well, isn't shooting at all in big games, turns the ball over, and plays matador defense frequently. He now has 2 terrible efforts executing in the last minute of close games. How is his performance keeping Diggins from getting a look? Why shouldn't Gaffney be made to fight his way back into the lineup if he is the player with the greater talent? Coupled with the fact that Hurley stuck with Gilbert and Brendan Adams when it was obvious that they were similarly coming up short game after game, I don't think Hurley deserves the benefit of the doubt being second guessed about these choices.

Bringing the Ball Up vs Pressure
Hopefully, we remember we had problems in the Bahamas and remember our next game is vs Shaka Smart. I suggest practicing a strategy before noting the deficiency in the next post game press conference.

Being Stubborn
I just know in my heart that Hurley is going to try to get Clingan to hedge on defense out to the three point line and try to recover back to his man in the paint. I might as well start complaining about it now.

Boneyard venting complete - Thanks to all who read this and helped
 
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