Thoughts on UConn Auburn

[Waquoit]

We witnessed a classic today, and I feel bad for Yarders who missed it.

I feel bad for Yarders who watched it and deemed it a C+.

 

[SubbaBub]

My guess is his team was getting worn out playing that hard on d so he had to pick and choose when to put the press back on.

Having AJ in during the OT really helped break the press. He and Whaley gave textbook examples of winning contributions without scoring.

Polley, RJ, and Hawkins were out of their minds from deep.

This was a really good test. Auburn is a legit team if they play like that all year.

 

[LIuconn]

Has it been discussed here yet? Hurley needs some inbounds plays to get his guards some space. Can't have these turnovers in the corners

 

[McLovin]

Hope Whaley is okay, sounds like he is.

But man, he needs to step up. Some bonehead plays to keep auburn in it late. Not what we should be getting from our DPOY super senior…

The foul on the 3…..arghhhhh!!!!

AJax value at this point is moving the ball on offense, and that’s it… he got burned off the dribble no less than 5 times today. Timid with the ball, refuses to use his athleticism to his personal benefit…hopefully this dude gets angry, because his attitude on the floor is so flashy/stylistic, that it hurts our momentum a lot. He knows how to feed the post though, which was great to see.

I think Hawkins got pulled because of the ankle, but there was also no way he was handling the ball against that press. I think Hurley held that stance a little bit too long, and it hurt us, but Hawkins will be better for it.

Overall, I thought we should have either stomped on their throat and won by 20, or let it wither away. Loved the resiliency from the guys today to not give up. And thank you Tyler for hitting dagger after dagger after dagger.

This will be a HUGE win for the resume come March.

Bonehead plays aside, Whaley might have had the best game ever for a guy who scored 0 points.

His defense won us this game. Jabari Smith is the real deal and he kept him in check.

 

[LIuconn]

Hoping to see some depth play tomorrow. Samson, Sool for a few min. Blood the youth

 

[Ant3411]

Gaffney 100% needs to play better against these good teams for nothing other than like you said, to give RJ a blow.

I want to say something funny here regarding the “blow” but will refrain…

 

[Tenspro2002]

Hawkins is a far better NBA prospect in today's game.

Sanogo will get looks, especially if he keeps his FT percentage high and shoots and makes a few 3's. His stroke is good enough, but he has to prove it for what the NBA is looking for.

There's a reason Andre Drummond has bounced around among losing teams. Even rim-protecting centers have to be able to shoot in today's game.

 

[navery12]

Today's game was one of the reasons I'd like to see Sanogo settle in around 25 minutes and not 30+ like Hurley has mentioned (though to be fair he was at around 27 at the end of regulation I believe). I felt like he was tired at the end of the 2nd half and was less effective in the post. Keep him fresh for late in the game, and it also gives more minutes to Whaley at the 5 which should help avoid the prolonged offensive slumps with them sharing the floor

 

[CardiacAndre7]

Today's game was one of the reasons I'd like to see Sanogo settle in around 25 minutes and not 30+ like Hurley has mentioned (though to be fair he was at around 27 at the end of regulation I believe). I felt like he was tired at the end of the 2nd half and was less effective in the post. Keep him fresh for late in the game, and it also gives more minutes to Whaley at the 5 which should help avoid the prolonged offensive slumps with them sharing the floor

Our offense faltered when he wasn’t playing though, especially towards the end of regulation when he wasn’t in due to foul trouble. Probably more due to the terrible press break and out of bounds execution, but it helps when you can dump it down to the sure thing.

 

[CardiacAndre7]

AJ, Akok, Whaley and JG shot a combined 0-4 in 88 minutes played. That needs to be stressed by the staff. We can’t have 4 big time minute players take 4 total shots in a game.

 

[Viet Vet]

Can we set an effective screen when inbounding under our own hoop? Do NOT, do NOT, inbound the ball into the corner. That is a defender's (or two or three) dream. Why would you want both the baseline and sideline to limit your player's options? Geometry?................................Duh.

 

[AfgHusky15]

UConn is really good, they just need to learn how to step on throats and close teams out. Part of it is Bruce Pearl's teams are relentless but we never adjusted to their pressure. He crushed Hurley on out of bounds plays and UConn never made him pay for the press. We folded because of it but got off the mat, folded again, and got off the mat again for the win.

Sanogo is a beast, he's going to be better in the post than every player he plays. His ability to finish with both hands, his footwork and the time he takes to finish is unlike any big we've had in an incredibly long time, maybe ever. Sometimes he needs to just speed it up and dunk though. His ability to stay on the floor with 4 fouls was a huge growing up moment for him and the difference between a win and a loss. The other difference was Cole playing the whole game and making the big shots when we needed them. And finally Polley, we were down and out 2 or three different times in this game and Polley refused to let us lose. Big shot after big shot to keep them alive and keep them ahead. To top it off he gets a tough in traffic rebound and sank the ft's like he always does.

The not so good, Gaff has to be much stronger with the ball so Cole doesn't have to play the entire game. He simply needs to play better, made the big ft's though and I'm always confident with him at the stripe.

Jackson has to be able to score, he plays too many minutes and is too valuable to not put any points on the board. With him and Whaley on the court right now, it's basically two players who don't score.

Akok, maybe matchups but thought he could've gotten more tick.

Martin made some mistakes on the break but was rock solid.

Hawkins had his freshman moment and the vets bailed him out. He's awesome and may not be here long at all, he needs to play more (needs to play a ton tomorrow) which takes me to Hurley.

Hurley is clearly a really good coach and awesome program builder but he still makes me scratch my head sometimes. Hawkins was getting what he wanted on offense and then he just sits and sits. Coach needs to stop being a cooler and keep the kids in who are feasting. Press break and inbounds plays on both ends need to be much better. This team can be great but they desperately need to learn how to step on throats. It's coming but not there yet. They showed a ton of resiliency though after blowing it several times and with everything going against them.. They grew up today.

Let's take care of business tomorrow.

Very good post Superjohn... absolutely agree on everything you said. I thought with having athletic wings that can handle the ball (Martin, Ajax, Hawkins) UConn would be able to rip apart a press, but today was eye-opening how much the press and ball pressure exposed UConn... hopefully coaching staff will focus on that.

 

[Huskygrad88]

Obviously Martin is not a primary ball handler but he can be helpful in breaking a press. He is more than adequate in that role.

Agree he can help break the press, but Hurley needs a shock collar when Martin gets to the top of the key to make him stop right there. He is not a natural after that and can get himself out of control and sometimes up in the air with no place to go.

 

[coachn]

Can we set an effective screen when inbounding under our own hoop? Do NOT, do NOT, inbound the ball into the corner. That is a defender's (or two or three) dream. Why would you want both the baseline and sideline to limit your player's options? Geometry?................................Duh.

Exactly We put the ball in the corner right away on the press break. The worst thing you can do -a defenses dream.
Their press was good enough without our help.Give them credit they know how to trap. Maybe we could learn to trap like that. You have to be fast and aggressive. They were .
I liked our MMM full court. Relentless. We have the players to wear teams down with it.

 

[BGesus4]

Finally broke the curse of the Hamidou Diallo game

 

[Spaceman213J]

If I were Hurley, I would make RJ watch this game. He was great for the most part.
When he plays smart and under control, this offense is so much better.
He did get sped up on a couple possessions, and it's not good.

There was much more good/great today with RJ. If he could just tighten up a little more, this team is going to do some damage against some good teams.

 

[Kolumbo]

Tweets galore

College Basketball World Reacts To Epic Auburn-UConn Game

College basketball fans were treated to the perfect Thanksgiving appetizer on Wednesday in the form of an absolute thriller between Connecticut and Auburn.

thespun.com

 

[Greathusky]

Proud to be a UConn fan today and especially jealous of folks who saw this game in person. This was an epic Quad 1 that will carry much weight in March.

We do have a glaring weakness brought up by the announcers which was also evident last season.

Our guards do not have the foot speed to keep up with quick guards like we saw today. The Auburn guards consistently drove and beat our men to the basket especially in the overtimes. We rely on our shot blocking ability to somewhat compensate but that strategy can lead to fouling and excessive over helping. Not sure that this is something the Carpenter can fix other than to play a zone which is not happening.

That being said, the difference between last year and this year is that we have many more offensive weapons and can actually win a scoring fest. Not many UConn teams in the past had that ability.

 

[Jbirdp5]

Can’t help but be happy with the resilient performance. Great win huskies!!
Jackson definitely shows a lack of confidence in his offense as does Whaley. I thought gaffney was plenty aggressive offensively which is usually his Achilles heel, his handle just wasn’t tight enough for this game.
Happy Hawkins showed so much in his first “real” game. The kid has “IT”
I’m also hoping this wasn’t a one off from pollen like the Marquette game last year and can continue to be such a deadly shooter in these big situations.
7 turnovers in the first 4 minutes of the game was clearly a sign that we needed to catch up to high major speed after all the cupcakes we’ve been playing.
I’m not as worried about the inbounds plays, this should serve as a wake up call that we need to sharpen up.

 

[ThabeetDown]

I really appreciated the composure is the team in the two OTs (even with the turnovers as they almost choked it away in the 2OT). It seems like they were grasping for air the last 5+ min of the 2H but were able to regroup and refocus when it mattered in the extra periods. I think that just shows what it’s like to have a veteran-laden team which should serve us well this year.

 

[F101Voodoo]

Today's game reminded me of the Big East games when UCONN was ascending into big time. Remember the battles with Providence , Georgetown , BC?
Glad I took my blood pressure meds today! I thought it was like watching a Big East tournament at MSG!

 

[F101Voodoo]

Can’t help but be happy with the resilient performance. Great win huskies!!
Jackson definitely shows a lack of confidence in his offense as does Whaley. I thought gaffney was plenty aggressive offensively which is usually his Achilles heel, his handle just wasn’t tight enough for this game.
Happy Hawkins showed so much in his first “real” game. The kid has “IT”
I’m also hoping this wasn’t a one off from pollen like the Marquette game last year and can continue to be such a deadly shooter in these big situations.
7 turnovers in the first 4 minutes of the game was clearly a sign that we needed to catch up to high major speed after all the cupcakes we’ve been playing.
I’m not as worried about the inbounds plays, this should serve as a wake up call that we need to sharpen up.

Agree that the 4 games with CupCakes sort of have the Huskies a false sense of how good they thought they were in the first few minutes of today's game with a real team.

 

[Kolumbo]

Can’t help but be happy with the resilient performance. Great win huskies!!
Jackson definitely shows a lack of confidence in his offense as does Whaley. I thought gaffney was plenty aggressive offensively which is usually his Achilles heel, his handle just wasn’t tight enough for this game.
Happy Hawkins showed so much in his first “real” game. The kid has “IT”
I’m also hoping this wasn’t a one off from pollen like the Marquette game last year and can continue to be such a deadly shooter in these big situations.
7 turnovers in the first 4 minutes of the game was clearly a sign that we needed to catch up to high major speed after all the cupcakes we’ve been playing.
I’m not as worried about the inbounds plays, this should serve as a wake up call that we need to sharpen up.

Does anyone on the squad have a little Ricky Moore in him. We will need a defensive specialist at the guard position.

 

[August_West]

Not sure if they press like Auburn but Michigan State is currently the #3 defense on KenPom

Sanogo won’t feast on Bingham I’ll tell you that right now. Bingham is a uconn style low post defender.

 

[navery12]

Dan Hurley has to be pumped about the win, he's watching this right now