Thoughts on Big East title game

[superjohn]

Smith really isn't the answer even with Demary out there. He was a big miss in the Transfer Portal.

Trying to find some ways we can win the big games with what we have.

The past two seasons have been a big whiff for Hurley and the staff. We start three guys who are set shooters/need to catch and shoot off of screens and set plays. It's really impressive what we did out of conference and the record we compiled. We maxed out back then but kept the record up because the big east is so weak this season.

Tarris is a legit big boy center who has an advantage over almost everybody else he plays against, we're pretty much at a disadvantage everywhere else athletically. We're relying on Jayden Ross to be our Andre Jackson Steph Castle type of elite athlete game changer. I like him a lot and he's improved but what are we talking about? He's not in the same realm as them. This is a uniquely unathelitic UConn team. The carelessness/unforced errors compound everything but our margin of error is razor thin because we're so incredibly unathletic and we're not physical, we don't have the horses.

We steamrolled everyone for two straight tournaments and I get the sense Hurley thought he could win with his system regardless of how strong and athletic the players are. Turns out you need some elite athletes. He needs to hit the portal hard and they there needs to be some elite athletes and some guys who can take their man off the dribble.

 

[Deepster]

Yes but he's going. NBA doesn't care he is not ready right now because he will be. He will have more freedom of movement in NBA and will shine

Define “shine”. McNeeley has played 6 minutes on an NBA floor since January 6th.

 

[Deepster]

Trying to find some ways we can win the big games with what we have.

The past two seasons have been a big whiff for Hurley and the staff. We start three guys who are set shooters/need to catch and shoot off of screens and set plays. It's really impressive what we did out of conference and the record we compiled. We maxed out back then but kept the record up because the big east is so weak this season.

Tarris is a legit big boy center who has an advantage over almost everybody else he plays against, we're pretty much at a disadvantage everywhere else athletically. We're relying on Jayden Ross to be our Andre Jackson Steph Castle type of elite athlete game changer. I like him a lot and he's improved but what are we talking about? He's not in the same realm as them. This is a uniquely unathelitic UConn team. The carelessness/unforced errors compound everything but our margin of error is razor thin because we're so incredibly unathletic and we're not physical, we don't have the horses.

We steamrolled everyone for two straight tournaments and I get the sense Hurley thought he could win with his system regardless of how strong and athletic the players are. Turns out you need some elite athletes. He needs to hit the portal hard and they there needs to be some elite athletes and some guys who can take their man off the dribble.

From February 1st through today we haven’t strung 3 good games together. Any time we look like it might be clicking, we toss in a clunker.

To expect 6 good to great games in a row from here is not realistic. It’s possible and we certainly have the talent for it, but the engine just isn’t there right now.

 

[Edward Sargent]

Smith really isn't the answer even with Demary out there. He was a big miss in the Transfer Portal.

He's a whirling dervish out there on the perimeter dribbling with his back turned to the unfolding play half the time.

 

[boog204]

We steamrolled everyone for two straight tournaments and I get the sense Hurley thought he could win with his system regardless of how strong and athletic the players are. Turns out you need some elite athletes. He needs to hit the portal hard and they there needs to be some elite athletes and some guys who can take their man off the dribble.

This is it. Hurley and staff have pontificated about the “UConn player” and how we “recruit the mom and dad” and our system and “culture” and whatever else is in the speech. It’s an incredible flex that for the second straight year sounds ridiculous when you watch us look absolutely terrible against physicality.

We do run great stuff. But we literally have zero players, zero, who can take a St. John’s esque physical defender off the dribble or handle that pressure. Not one guy. And going into next year, it’s exactly the same. You needs guys who if need be can iso and make a play. We had that with Newton, Cam, Castle, AJax, and Hawkins. All of them could create space and do something with the ball.

It’s a major flaw in roster construction and the lack of development of a couple of key players to add some other dimension to their game. And what’s so frustrating is that the staff noted all of this last year and didn’t do enough to correct it.

 

[Edward Sargent]

This is it. Hurley and staff have pontificated about the “UConn player” and how we “recruit the mom and dad” and our system and “culture” and whatever else is in the speech. It’s an incredible flex that for the second straight year sounds ridiculous when you watch us look absolutely terrible against physicality.

We do run great stuff. But we literally have zero players, zero, who can take a St. John’s esque physical defender off the dribble or handle that pressure. Not one guy. And going into next year, it’s exactly the same. You needs guys who if need be can iso and make a play. We had that with Newton, Cam, Castle, AJax, and Hawkins. All of them could create space and do something with the ball.

It’s a major flaw in roster construction and the lack of development of a couple of key players to add some other dimension to their game. And what’s so frustrating is that the staff noted all of this last year and didn’t do enough to correct it.

You don't necessarily need to iso. You can create space using the midrange shot, but we didn't last night. Two or three times Silas got to the middle where a floater would have been perfect but he was determined to get the ball to Reed. If he missed the floater we still had Reed for the putback (we did outrebound them last night). Rick said it when interviewed during the first half we've got to continue taking away the three point line. Same with Braylon either side step or get to your midrange where you've been money

 

[boog204]

You don't necessarily need to iso. You can create space using the midrange shot, but we didn't last night. Two or three times Silas got to the middle where a floater would have been perfect but he was determined to get the ball to Reed. If he missed the floater we still had Reed for the putback (we did outrebound them last night). Rick said it when interviewed during the first half we've got to continue taking away the three point line. Same with Braylon either side step or get to your midrange where you've been money

I’m saying that have the skillset to get the ball and be a true triple threat. Who can put the ball on the floor and create something. More or less, 4/5 of our starting lineup needs to be set up to be effective and the fifth guy has had games of 10 and 9 turnovers against St John’s the last two years. Pitino is a brilliant x and o guy. He knows to run us off the line and exploit our average at best ball handling at the 2, 3, 4 and lack of athleticism. Braylon does have an excellent midrange game, but matched against Mitchell or Hopkins he’s going to have a difficult time getting to that spot off the bounce because of their physicality.

St. John’s starts at minimum four guys who can take someone off the dribble and create something. We, maybe, have one on the whole team who has that skill consistently and as you noted he shies away from the pull up and constantly overpentrates.

 

[jibsey]

This is it. Hurley and staff have pontificated about the “UConn player” and how we “recruit the mom and dad” and our system and “culture” and whatever else is in the speech. It’s an incredible flex that for the second straight year sounds ridiculous when you watch us look absolutely terrible against physicality.

We do run great stuff. But we literally have zero players, zero, who can take a St. John’s esque physical defender off the dribble or handle that pressure. Not one guy. And going into next year, it’s exactly the same. You needs guys who if need be can iso and make a play. We had that with Newton, Cam, Castle, AJax, and Hawkins. All of them could create space and do something with the ball.

It’s a major flaw in roster construction and the lack of development of a couple of key players to add some other dimension to their game. And what’s so frustrating is that the staff noted all of this last year and didn’t do enough to correct it.

Pitino bought these high motor physical athletes. Now on certain nights they can’t make shots just like us last night. It wasn’t a difference maker but we needed Stewart’s physicality yesterday.

 

[BFieldHusky]

For those who were in the building, what was the crowd like? It sounded like 50/50 at some points.

 

[Mr. French]

This is it. Hurley and staff have pontificated about the “UConn player” and how we “recruit the mom and dad” and our system and “culture” and whatever else is in the speech. It’s an incredible flex that for the second straight year sounds ridiculous when you watch us look absolutely terrible against physicality.

We do run great stuff. But we literally have zero players, zero, who can take a St. John’s esque physical defender off the dribble or handle that pressure. Not one guy. And going into next year, it’s exactly the same. You needs guys who if need be can iso and make a play. We had that with Newton, Cam, Castle, AJax, and Hawkins. All of them could create space and do something with the ball.

It’s a major flaw in roster construction and the lack of development of a couple of key players to add some other dimension to their game. And what’s so frustrating is that the staff noted all of this last year and didn’t do enough to correct it.

Just to be clear, Cam Jackson and Hawkins were not doing stuff to create shots off the dribble.

 

[uconngb]

This is it. Hurley and staff have pontificated about the “UConn player” and how we “recruit the mom and dad” and our system and “culture” and whatever else is in the speech. It’s an incredible flex that for the second straight year sounds ridiculous when you watch us look absolutely terrible against physicality.

We do run great stuff. But we literally have zero players, zero, who can take a St. John’s esque physical defender off the dribble or handle that pressure. Not one guy. And going into next year, it’s exactly the same. You needs guys who if need be can iso and make a play. We had that with Newton, Cam, Castle, AJax, and Hawkins. All of them could create space and do something with the ball.

It’s a major flaw in roster construction and the lack of development of a couple of key players to add some other dimension to their game. And what’s so frustrating is that the staff noted all of this last year and didn’t do enough to correct it.

Dude, you are taking this way too far. Neither AJ nor Hawkins could take anyone off the dribble. Hawkins was a motion, off the ball shooter and AJ was a well below average offensive player. You keep trying to jam square pegs in round holes.

 

[Mike Honcho]

For those who were in the building, what was the crowd like? It sounded like 50/50 at some points.

I was there in the 200s and my section was 85/15 UConn fans. We had more fans there just less to cheer about. I'd guess 60/40 overall, if not higher. UConn nation showed up and tried to will the team to win. Kinda tough when you get buried in a 0-10 hole within the first 3 minutes. Gotta thank Solo for fouling a 3pt shooter. Smh

 

[XLCenterFan]

For those who were in the building, what was the crowd like? It sounded like 50/50 at some points.

We were outnumbered and I felt it everywhere. Not as many UConn fans on the train as usual. Legends had no line and had tables available and open all afternoon. SJU is back and they have reclaimed MSG, at least when we play each other.

 

[Kowalski]

I’m saying that have the skillset to get the ball and be a true triple threat. Who can put the ball on the floor and create something. More or less, 4/5 of our starting lineup needs to be set up to be effective and the fifth guy has had games of 10 and 9 turnovers against St John’s the last two years. Pitino is a brilliant x and o guy. He knows to run us off the line and exploit our average at best ball handling at the 2, 3, 4 and lack of athleticism. Braylon does have an excellent midrange game, but matched against Mitchell or Hopkins he’s going to have a difficult time getting to that spot off the bounce because of their physicality.

St. John’s starts at minimum four guys who can take someone off the dribble and create something. We, maybe, have one on the whole team who has that skill consistently and as you noted he shies away from the pull up and constantly overpentrates.

For all the talk about how St John’s has all these guys who can create off the dribble, they’re not known for running good half court offense. St. John’s relies heavily on scoring in transition off turnovers and their rebounding. And they play very physical defense. That’s what they killed UConn with last night.

 

[CTBasketball]

For those who were in the building, what was the crowd like? It sounded like 50/50 at some points.

Easily 70/30 Johnnies fans but there was nothing to cheer for on the UConn side, so maybe closer to 60/40 or 50/50?

That building is not our home anymore.

 

[Kemba15]

Easily 70/30 Johnnies fans but there was nothing to cheer for on the UConn side, so maybe closer to 60/40 or 50/50?

That building is not our home anymore.

You can’t expect it to feel like our home once the team that actually owns it is good again. But it was close to 50/50 last night, which is still a great UConn turnout.

 

[boog204]

Dude, you are taking this way too far. Neither AJ nor Hawkins could take anyone off the dribble. Hawkins was a motion, off the ball shooter and AJ was a well below average offensive player. You keep trying to jam square pegs in round holes.

Dude, literally Hawkins’ NBA mock scouting report talked about his elite off the dribble shooting ability. He could create space with a bounce or two in addition to his catch and shoot ability. That’s creating offense for himself.

I never said Andre was a guy who could take people off the dribble and score. But he could, again, create space with the bounce and his athleticism. He literally averaged almost 7apg during the tourney. Thats elite playmaking from someone who is not your primary ball handler.

Again, this roster was constructed with a lack of playmakers both in terms of facilitating and creating their own offense. As great as our system is, we don’t have guys like Newton, Cam, etc. who can create offense. We are entirely system based which can be negated with strong defensive teams.

 

[gsmooth]

Dude, literally Hawkins’ NBA mock scouting report talked about his elite off the dribble shooting ability. He could create space with a bounce or two in addition to his catch and shoot ability. That’s creating offense for himself.

I never said Andre was a guy who could take people off the dribble and score. But he could, again create space with the bounce and his athleticism. He literally averaged almost 7apg during the tourney. Thats elite playmaking from someone who is not your primary ball handler.

Again, this roster was constructed with a lack of playmakers both in terms of facilitating and creating their own offense. As great as our system is, we don’t have guys like Newton, Cam, etc. who can create offense. We are entirely system based which can be negated with strong defensive teams.

Hawkins couldn't dribble multiple times to create a shot, but I remember one of those draft scouting videos where it stated he averaged 1.2 ppp (something close to that) off of catching the ball off screens and creating with 1-2 dribbles after that catch making 3s even if defenders had a hand up.

 

[boog204]

Hawkins couldn't dribble multiple times to create a shot, but I remember one of those draft scouting videos where it stated he averaged 1.2 ppp (something close to that) off of catching the ball off screens and creating with 1-2 dribbles after that catch making 3s even if a defenders had a hand up.

Highlights from the tourney. You’ll see him put it on the floor several times to create space for 3’s. Side steps off the dribble, and a few pull ups off the dribble. Im not saying he’s Kyrie for f’s sake, be he could create space to get his shot off when needed. Solo cannot do that. Braylon can against weaker defenders. Hawkins didn’t become completely useless if he had a tough on ball
Defender. Why is this so difficult to understand?

 

[gsmooth]

Highlights from the tourney. You’ll see him put it on the floor several times to create space for 3’s. Side steps off the dribble, and a few pull ups off the dribble. Im not saying he’s Kyrie for f’s sake, be he could create space to get his shot off when needed. Solo cannot do that. Braylon can against weaker defenders. Hawkins didn’t become completely useless if he had a tough on ball
Defender. Why is this so difficult to understand?

It's not difficult for me to understand, I agree with you in your original post that stated he can create off the dribble. I was just specifying when and how he did it. It is why I never agreed with posts last year saying Ball was ahead of Hawkins' sophomore year despite shooting 41% from 3. Just like you said, Ball doesn't have it in his bag to do what Hawk did. Hawk was such an explosive scorer and shooter that created KenPom kill shots. I think the BoneYard forgets or doesn't give credit for the impact Hawk had on that 2023 team.

 

[TGW93]

Storrs South represented itself exceptionally well. It was 50/50 to 60/40 Uconn fans, and the crowd "pops" were awesome (my son's Apple watch kept warning him the sound was at unhealthy levels).

As someone previously said, the team didn't exactly give us a lot to cheer about. People came in all day, so the trains into NYC were not terribly crowded on the way in, but the train home was packed - standing room only and uncomfortably warm because of the sheer number of people on the train.

 

[boog204]

It's not difficult for me to understand, I agree with you in your original post that stated he can create off the dribble. I was just specifying when and how he did it. It is why I never agreed with posts last year saying Ball was ahead of Hawkins' sophomore year despite shooting 41% from 3. Just like you said, Ball doesn't have it in his bag to do what Hawk did. Hawk was such an explosive scorer and shooter that created KenPom kill shots

That was my original point. We have a 2,3, and 4 that really struggle creating space for themselves. If they are not absolutely wide open from 3, they are not going to be very productive. Mullins has the skill, but physically he can be deterred and his handle can be a bit loose. Hawk could still create space and offense for himself if he was tightly guarded and was considered elite off the dribble (even though he didn’t need to do it that often) and could hit contested shots.

Our offense is so predicated on the system and we lack guys who can create offense for themself (Hawk) or others (AJax).

 

[ScottVib]

The St. John's faithful was there earlier than the UConn folks, I think it was closer to 60/40 -> 55/45 in favor of the St. John's faithful. I did think that the few points where UConn fans had something to cheer about that the UConn fans were louder than the St. John's fans, but that could've been a function of the section I was in.

 

[gsmooth]

That was my original point. We have a 2,3, and 4 that really struggle creating space for themselves. If they are not absolutely wide open from 3, they are not going to be very productive. Mullins has the skill, but physically he can be deterred and his handle can be a bit loose. Hawk could still create space and offense for himself if he was tightly guarded and was considered elite off the dribble (even though he didn’t need to do it that often) and could hit contested shots.

Our offense is so predicated on the system and we lack guys who can create offense for themself (Hawk) or others (AJax).

Unfortunately, they are not making 3s when they are wide open let alone not having the ability to create space for a shot when tightly guarded.😥

Very true. AJax, for all his limitations, he made a lot of winning plays, was a fast break creator, and great at ball handling against the pressure defense.

 

[superjohn]

Unfortunately, they are not making 3s when they are wide open let alone not having the ability to create space for a shot when tightly guarded.😥

Very true. AJax, for all his limitations, he made a lot of winning plays, was fast break creator, and great at ball handling against the pressure defense.

We're bricking so many wide open threes. AK and Mullins three point shots left them over the last bunch of games and Solo's three point shot hasn't been there all season.

 

[NJHusky]

We're bricking so many wide open threes. AK and Mullins three point shots left them over the last bunch of games and Solo's three point shot hasn't been there all season.

Agree. But i can’t like the content, even though its true 😤

 

[Kemba15]

We're bricking so many wide open threes. AK and Mullins three point shots left them over the last bunch of games and Solo's three point shot hasn't been there all season.

This and the turnovers are the most frustrating things to me. The turnovers are probably worse, but in a way more understandable given our roster and lack of creators. The 3P shooting makes zero sense.

 

[superjohn]

This and the turnovers are the most frustrating things to me. The turnovers are probably worse, but in a way more understandable given our roster and lack of creators. The 3P shooting makes zero sense.

Yep, Hurley assembled an unathletic team with only one creator on the whole team. The only we could mask these major flaws would be incredible halfcourt execution and making our open shots. Instead as the season has winded down we're turning it over a bunch and missing our open three pointers.

 

[gsmooth]

Yep, Hurley assembled an unathletic team with only one creator on the whole team. The only we could mask these major flaws would be incredible halfcourt execution and making our open shots. Instead as the season has winded down we're turning it over a bunch and missing our open three pointers.

Everything you said implies the thin margin of error this team has.

 

[TouchdownHusky]

This and the turnovers are the most frustrating things to me. The turnovers are probably worse, but in a way more understandable given our roster and lack of creators. The 3P shooting makes zero sense.

For me it's the blocked shots because UConn players are not athletic enough to dunk. Reibe and Demery had shots blocked from behind cuz they didn't think a powerful dunk was possible. How can you be 7 feet and not dunking all over people.