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Exciting game last night. As is usually the case, the team showed flashes of what they can become (which is a contender next season, assuming everybody returns) and what they are right now (an inconsistent team that is at times excruciating to watch).
Let me say one thing before I get to the team: the crowd sucked. There were at least 5,000 empty seats, the student section was at least half-empty, and the people that were there seemed like they would have rather been somewhere else. The kid in front of me was texting the whole game, and the guys behind me were douches that bashed Napier the whole game. I truly believe that when the crowd is that lethargic, it actually serves as a dis-advantage, because the team comes out hoping for a great crowd and plays listless because it isn't there. I understand the trip to Hartford can be inconvenient for the casual fan, but the University of Connecticut is a gigantic school, and the fact that well less than 1% of it's students are interested in a matchup with a decent Cincy team tells me the system is broken. It may be unfair to bash Warde for his inability to get UConn into a decent conference, but this is one thing he needs to get fixed - the team deserves better than what they got last night.
The game itself basically epitomized the season and the team: prolonged scoring droughts, flashes of brilliance, and also, periods of infuriating play from our under-classmen (Calhoun, Daniels, Boatright), incompetance in the paint and on the class, and ultimately, Shabazz Napier heroics and a hard-fought victory. To say it was less than artful would be an understatement, but , one of the ugliest basketball games I've ever seen resulted in banner #3 for this program, so I've never been one to complaiin about style points. The NCAA has sapped some of the firepower this program sported in the 90's and mid-2000's, sure. But the grit and desire is still there, and that stems from our two leaders, Kevin Ollie and Shabazz Napier. I thought one poster put it best yesterday when he said Napier has marvelously carried the torch between eras.
One of the hot topics on this forum the last couple weeks has regarded next season, and the chances of this team making a deep run. While some have reminded us to enjoy this season, it only makes sense to watch the remaining games this season with an eye towards next year, because let's face it, this is a bridge year, and the kids on the team feel the same way. It may sound crazy given they hasn't stepped on campus, but I think next season hinges on Kentan Facey and Amida Brimah. It is impossible to watch the current games unfold without wondering how much better this team could be with a couple of competent rebounders and post defenders.
Defensively, I thought UConn played well, especially in the second half and down the stretch when they needed to get stops. Cincy isn't exactly an offensive juggernaut, and they were downright putrid when Kilpatrick went to the bench, however, UConn's gameplan was clearly to push Cincy off the three point line and force them to take mid-range jumpers, and they executed fairly well. If it weren't for the usual slaughtering on the boards, UConn would have won fairly easily given how well they shot from three. UConn's defense didn't yield many open threes to Cincy, and they did an excellent job of keeping Kilpatrick in check, their only consistent offensive weapon. They seemed content to hedge high on Kilpatrick's off-ball curls and allow Justin Jackson to beat them, which he did not. The one flaw I saw in this strategy is Napier had to expend a lot of energy chasing Kilpatrick off screens, and that certainly sapped much of his energy, which was part of the reason I believe he made so many dumb plays in the early part of the second half. As a whole, the defense has been the strength of the team this season, and I suspect that will continue going forward.
Everybody knew going into the season that we would go as far as Shabazz Napier and Ryan Boatright took us, and that has very much held true thus far. Case in point, Napier played one of his worst games Saturday and we lost to a Nova team we should have beaten. They both played well against Cuse, and Shabazz played well enough to pick up Boatright's slack yesterday. The other guys on the team have made some nice strides this season, but they haven't yet developed enough to the point they can carry us if our guards have an off night. And other then the two incoming big men, that will be the biggest question heading into next season - can Daniels, Calhoun, and even Giffey combine for say, 40-50 points and win the game for us, specifically if the opposing teams gameplan is to stop the two guards? And really, given how Boatright has played lately, you could really throw him into the supporting cast and pose the same question. Daniels was really the only player other than Napier who had a substancial impact offensively last night, and had it not been for Napier's late outburst, many of you likely would be throwing Boatright to the wolves right now, because he was non-existent in the second half. (And yes, I'm opperating under the assumption Napier will be back next season, even if there is a strong chance he won't be).
Player notes:
Shabazz - I don't think much analysis is necessary here, as Shabazz was phenominal last night, and nearly single-handedly willed us to victory. I thought Cincy had the game in the bag when they went up 53-47 with a little over four minutes to go given how much we had struggled to score. After a Calhoun bucket and a Daniels three, it was pretty much the Shabazz show from there on out. Making it all the more impressive was the fact that he played the entire game - I'm not quite sure how he managed to generate the energy neccessary to dominate a college basketball game.
Boatright - Ryan has been in a bit of a funk lately. He was brutal against St. Johns, even worse against Villanova, and simply a non-factor last night. And given he's not exactly on the court for his defense, that's three of the last five games he didn't much carry his weight in terms of helping us win. The results were, unsurprisingly, a pair of losses to a couple mediocre Big East teams on the wrong side of the bubble, and a squeaker last night that we pulled out primarily because of Shabazz's brilliance. He obviously needs to be much more consistent for this team to approach its ceiling, however, I don't think we should be so quick to write him off after a few bad games. Without even looking, I'm sure I could find five games during Kemba's sophomore season that were worse than the five Boatright just played. After all, it was just eight days ago he was the best player on the floor against the #6 team in the country. I expect he'll come out firing against DePaul on Saturday in front of his family.
Omar - I have to say, this kid has a lot of Caron Butler in him. His stats for the season won't blow you away, but he's made noticeable improvements since the begginning of the season. In fact, I believe he's come the furthest of anybody on the team in regards to where he was earlier in the season (remember, this is the same kid that was taking a backseat to RJ Evans during crunchtime earlier in the season, which is almost unthinkable now). While he was mostly a standstill shooter earlier in the year (and a bad one at that), he is now attacking the rim, utilizing his smooth mid-range game, and rebounding at a high rate for his position. Over his last five games, he's averaging just under 15 points per game, getting to the line over five times per game, and grabbing six boards a game. His defense has also improved drastically from the begginning of the year, in which he was a major defensive liability. I continue to believe he is the best NBA prospect on this team, even if he may not be catching the eye of scouts quite yet. He certainly needs to add some muscle this off-season, but it looks like he has a frame that is more condusive to putting on weight, then say, Deandre Daniels. It is difficult not to see him putting in 15 a game next year.
RJ Evans - RJ was a non-factor last night, but he has had some nice moments over the last few games, most notably the St. Johns and Syracuse games. He is a good defensive player, and he's not afraid to take it to the basket, even if most of the time it is ill-adviced. He's basically the same player as Donyell Beverly, and we all remember how important he was to our title run a couple years ago.
Niels Giffey - He has always been a tremendous defender and glue guy, but I don't recall a better five game stretch from him in his entire career. Over his last five games, he's averaging 8 points and 5 rebounds, which while not earth-shattering, provides a glimpse into the type of player he can be - an excellent defender who can threaten teams offensively and open things up for others. He is easily one of the five best players on the team, and from time to time, the second best. I'm not sure it says more about Giffey or Olander that Ollie has been using him at center lately. Unfortunately, probably the latter, but it is great to see Ollie's faith in Giffey paying off. Niels is definitely a player who probably wasn't a great fit under Calhoun's quick hook, but has thrived uner Ollie.
DD - As I previously alluded to, Deandre was great last night. While he's struggled from three this season, he knocked down three of four last night, including arguably the biggest shot of the night to bring us within one. He has a plethora of flaws in his game, which almost makes what he's been able to do this season more impressive. He's probably the weakest forward in the Big East, he's predictable offensively (goes right every time), and he doesn't have the explosiveness around the rim to consistently finish. Defensively, he gets lost more frequently than any player on the team, and he's often off a tick in defensive rotations. Last night he was much better in this regard, blocking four shots and probably altering a couple more. I think he's the type of player whose involvement on the offensive end noticeably effects his activity defensively. Given how few and far between his minutes were last season, I would say he's performed up to expectations this season, if not slightly surpassed them. With a little more bulk and fine-tuning to his offensive game this summer, he could be the 13-15 point scorer this team needs next year.
TO - I'd like to say the kid is simply overmatched at this level, but I think Tyler's struggles this season may be more of a product of playing out of position. We're asking him to bang on the block, provide some occasional offense in the post, and compete on a nightly basis with kids that are simply bigger, stronger, and more athletic than he is. Could Tyler play 10-15 minutes per game at the high post in the right situation? I think so. This simply is not the right situation for him, and the beatings he's taken on a nightly basis bare that out. He's either overmatched, or he's playing out of positon. I say it is a little of both.
Phil Nolan - Unfortunately, he probably should have red-shirted, but couldn't due to the lack of depth this team had in the post. UConn is simply playing four on five with him on the court. That doesn't mean he couldn't eventually be a good player, though.
The next five games should be fun: DePaul, G'Town, Cincy, South Florida, and Providence. Those games are all winnable, and we should be favored in three of them. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if all five of them came down to the wire - the weaknesses in the post make it extremely difficult to put anybody away (even teams as bad as DePaul and USF) and the backcourt makes it difficult for other teams to put us away. The result is a lot of ugly basketball, close games, and ultimately a lot of excitement as we watch our young and under-manned team come of age right in front of our eyes. It is really going to suck when this season is over.
Oh, yeah, and one last thing: Good luck to your wife, Fleud. I tried to post in the other thread but this board can be a headache at times. She'll be in my prayers.
Let me say one thing before I get to the team: the crowd sucked. There were at least 5,000 empty seats, the student section was at least half-empty, and the people that were there seemed like they would have rather been somewhere else. The kid in front of me was texting the whole game, and the guys behind me were douches that bashed Napier the whole game. I truly believe that when the crowd is that lethargic, it actually serves as a dis-advantage, because the team comes out hoping for a great crowd and plays listless because it isn't there. I understand the trip to Hartford can be inconvenient for the casual fan, but the University of Connecticut is a gigantic school, and the fact that well less than 1% of it's students are interested in a matchup with a decent Cincy team tells me the system is broken. It may be unfair to bash Warde for his inability to get UConn into a decent conference, but this is one thing he needs to get fixed - the team deserves better than what they got last night.
The game itself basically epitomized the season and the team: prolonged scoring droughts, flashes of brilliance, and also, periods of infuriating play from our under-classmen (Calhoun, Daniels, Boatright), incompetance in the paint and on the class, and ultimately, Shabazz Napier heroics and a hard-fought victory. To say it was less than artful would be an understatement, but , one of the ugliest basketball games I've ever seen resulted in banner #3 for this program, so I've never been one to complaiin about style points. The NCAA has sapped some of the firepower this program sported in the 90's and mid-2000's, sure. But the grit and desire is still there, and that stems from our two leaders, Kevin Ollie and Shabazz Napier. I thought one poster put it best yesterday when he said Napier has marvelously carried the torch between eras.
One of the hot topics on this forum the last couple weeks has regarded next season, and the chances of this team making a deep run. While some have reminded us to enjoy this season, it only makes sense to watch the remaining games this season with an eye towards next year, because let's face it, this is a bridge year, and the kids on the team feel the same way. It may sound crazy given they hasn't stepped on campus, but I think next season hinges on Kentan Facey and Amida Brimah. It is impossible to watch the current games unfold without wondering how much better this team could be with a couple of competent rebounders and post defenders.
Defensively, I thought UConn played well, especially in the second half and down the stretch when they needed to get stops. Cincy isn't exactly an offensive juggernaut, and they were downright putrid when Kilpatrick went to the bench, however, UConn's gameplan was clearly to push Cincy off the three point line and force them to take mid-range jumpers, and they executed fairly well. If it weren't for the usual slaughtering on the boards, UConn would have won fairly easily given how well they shot from three. UConn's defense didn't yield many open threes to Cincy, and they did an excellent job of keeping Kilpatrick in check, their only consistent offensive weapon. They seemed content to hedge high on Kilpatrick's off-ball curls and allow Justin Jackson to beat them, which he did not. The one flaw I saw in this strategy is Napier had to expend a lot of energy chasing Kilpatrick off screens, and that certainly sapped much of his energy, which was part of the reason I believe he made so many dumb plays in the early part of the second half. As a whole, the defense has been the strength of the team this season, and I suspect that will continue going forward.
Everybody knew going into the season that we would go as far as Shabazz Napier and Ryan Boatright took us, and that has very much held true thus far. Case in point, Napier played one of his worst games Saturday and we lost to a Nova team we should have beaten. They both played well against Cuse, and Shabazz played well enough to pick up Boatright's slack yesterday. The other guys on the team have made some nice strides this season, but they haven't yet developed enough to the point they can carry us if our guards have an off night. And other then the two incoming big men, that will be the biggest question heading into next season - can Daniels, Calhoun, and even Giffey combine for say, 40-50 points and win the game for us, specifically if the opposing teams gameplan is to stop the two guards? And really, given how Boatright has played lately, you could really throw him into the supporting cast and pose the same question. Daniels was really the only player other than Napier who had a substancial impact offensively last night, and had it not been for Napier's late outburst, many of you likely would be throwing Boatright to the wolves right now, because he was non-existent in the second half. (And yes, I'm opperating under the assumption Napier will be back next season, even if there is a strong chance he won't be).
Player notes:
Shabazz - I don't think much analysis is necessary here, as Shabazz was phenominal last night, and nearly single-handedly willed us to victory. I thought Cincy had the game in the bag when they went up 53-47 with a little over four minutes to go given how much we had struggled to score. After a Calhoun bucket and a Daniels three, it was pretty much the Shabazz show from there on out. Making it all the more impressive was the fact that he played the entire game - I'm not quite sure how he managed to generate the energy neccessary to dominate a college basketball game.
Boatright - Ryan has been in a bit of a funk lately. He was brutal against St. Johns, even worse against Villanova, and simply a non-factor last night. And given he's not exactly on the court for his defense, that's three of the last five games he didn't much carry his weight in terms of helping us win. The results were, unsurprisingly, a pair of losses to a couple mediocre Big East teams on the wrong side of the bubble, and a squeaker last night that we pulled out primarily because of Shabazz's brilliance. He obviously needs to be much more consistent for this team to approach its ceiling, however, I don't think we should be so quick to write him off after a few bad games. Without even looking, I'm sure I could find five games during Kemba's sophomore season that were worse than the five Boatright just played. After all, it was just eight days ago he was the best player on the floor against the #6 team in the country. I expect he'll come out firing against DePaul on Saturday in front of his family.
Omar - I have to say, this kid has a lot of Caron Butler in him. His stats for the season won't blow you away, but he's made noticeable improvements since the begginning of the season. In fact, I believe he's come the furthest of anybody on the team in regards to where he was earlier in the season (remember, this is the same kid that was taking a backseat to RJ Evans during crunchtime earlier in the season, which is almost unthinkable now). While he was mostly a standstill shooter earlier in the year (and a bad one at that), he is now attacking the rim, utilizing his smooth mid-range game, and rebounding at a high rate for his position. Over his last five games, he's averaging just under 15 points per game, getting to the line over five times per game, and grabbing six boards a game. His defense has also improved drastically from the begginning of the year, in which he was a major defensive liability. I continue to believe he is the best NBA prospect on this team, even if he may not be catching the eye of scouts quite yet. He certainly needs to add some muscle this off-season, but it looks like he has a frame that is more condusive to putting on weight, then say, Deandre Daniels. It is difficult not to see him putting in 15 a game next year.
RJ Evans - RJ was a non-factor last night, but he has had some nice moments over the last few games, most notably the St. Johns and Syracuse games. He is a good defensive player, and he's not afraid to take it to the basket, even if most of the time it is ill-adviced. He's basically the same player as Donyell Beverly, and we all remember how important he was to our title run a couple years ago.
Niels Giffey - He has always been a tremendous defender and glue guy, but I don't recall a better five game stretch from him in his entire career. Over his last five games, he's averaging 8 points and 5 rebounds, which while not earth-shattering, provides a glimpse into the type of player he can be - an excellent defender who can threaten teams offensively and open things up for others. He is easily one of the five best players on the team, and from time to time, the second best. I'm not sure it says more about Giffey or Olander that Ollie has been using him at center lately. Unfortunately, probably the latter, but it is great to see Ollie's faith in Giffey paying off. Niels is definitely a player who probably wasn't a great fit under Calhoun's quick hook, but has thrived uner Ollie.
DD - As I previously alluded to, Deandre was great last night. While he's struggled from three this season, he knocked down three of four last night, including arguably the biggest shot of the night to bring us within one. He has a plethora of flaws in his game, which almost makes what he's been able to do this season more impressive. He's probably the weakest forward in the Big East, he's predictable offensively (goes right every time), and he doesn't have the explosiveness around the rim to consistently finish. Defensively, he gets lost more frequently than any player on the team, and he's often off a tick in defensive rotations. Last night he was much better in this regard, blocking four shots and probably altering a couple more. I think he's the type of player whose involvement on the offensive end noticeably effects his activity defensively. Given how few and far between his minutes were last season, I would say he's performed up to expectations this season, if not slightly surpassed them. With a little more bulk and fine-tuning to his offensive game this summer, he could be the 13-15 point scorer this team needs next year.
TO - I'd like to say the kid is simply overmatched at this level, but I think Tyler's struggles this season may be more of a product of playing out of position. We're asking him to bang on the block, provide some occasional offense in the post, and compete on a nightly basis with kids that are simply bigger, stronger, and more athletic than he is. Could Tyler play 10-15 minutes per game at the high post in the right situation? I think so. This simply is not the right situation for him, and the beatings he's taken on a nightly basis bare that out. He's either overmatched, or he's playing out of positon. I say it is a little of both.
Phil Nolan - Unfortunately, he probably should have red-shirted, but couldn't due to the lack of depth this team had in the post. UConn is simply playing four on five with him on the court. That doesn't mean he couldn't eventually be a good player, though.
The next five games should be fun: DePaul, G'Town, Cincy, South Florida, and Providence. Those games are all winnable, and we should be favored in three of them. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if all five of them came down to the wire - the weaknesses in the post make it extremely difficult to put anybody away (even teams as bad as DePaul and USF) and the backcourt makes it difficult for other teams to put us away. The result is a lot of ugly basketball, close games, and ultimately a lot of excitement as we watch our young and under-manned team come of age right in front of our eyes. It is really going to suck when this season is over.
Oh, yeah, and one last thing: Good luck to your wife, Fleud. I tried to post in the other thread but this board can be a headache at times. She'll be in my prayers.
