Thoughts on UConn Auburn

[Conndog]

AJ isn't a good shooter, but he is quick with great hops, maybe they can isolate and have him drive around defender for a dunk. A few of those ought to help.

 

[Deepster]

My one worry so far is how we’d adjust if we lost Cole for any extended period of time. We really lean on him for what he does and no one else comes close.

 

[businesslawyer]

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.

As a 3. Not as a 2 with Polley at the 3.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Mostly agree with @superjohn

Jackson had a tough day getting the ball to fall but passed really well and we play so much better when we don’t have a guard dribbling endlessly up top. When he’s not in our offense reverts back to that too often. Bet he has a big game tomorrow.

Love Hawkins’ game, but he‘s a culprit too. Doesn’t move the ball and tries to beat everyone, which he often can. As teams figure him out and commit defenders to him, he has to learn how to find the open man.

Press break 101, don’t beat it with the dribble, beat it through the air. Jackson and Akok are press break machines if we use them properly. Need a taller inbounder and a tall target at half court. We made them pay once all game.

Akok should have played more. He owned the boards when he was in. He was wide open often while our guards went one on two and drove into traffic. They need to look for him and he needs to demand the ball.

 

[UconnU]

Worried too about Andre playing. It’s like he’s a great point guard off the dribble. I don’t see him developing into a shooter or creating his own shot. He has great floor vision in transition and makes some great passes. He’ll play more when the team is running in a transition game. Agree on Akok, bad matchups for him. Polly was in rhythm tonight, ride him when you can. The Hawk is the real deal, wondered too why Dan Hurley sat him when he was hitting buckets…reminded me when Dan Hurley sat Sanogo early on in the season.

So much to love about this team. Sooo deep.

He plays much better off misses, close to the basket plays. We should honestly bulk him up and play him as a slightly undersized forward next year. He shouldn’t be playing on the perimeter so much.

 

[superjohn]

Check out the Auburn board if you get a chance. It's what you would expect, a bunch of football fans who think Auburn is a way better basketball school than UConn and the refs were all working for UConn.

 

[gwhuskyfan]

Did a postgame stream with my thoughts on CT Scoreboard today after the game. Had some tech issues but should be good at this time stamp

 

[Hankster]

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.

Hawkins might not be here long? There is this guy name Sonogo.

 

[upstater]

Worried too about Andre playing. It’s like he’s a great point guard off the dribble. I don’t see him developing into a shooter or creating his own shot. He has great floor vision in transition and makes some great passes. He’ll play more when the team is running in a transition game. Agree on Akok, bad matchups for him. Polly was in rhythm tonight, ride him when you can. The Hawk is the real deal, wondered too why Dan Hurley sat him when he was hitting buckets…reminded me when Dan Hurley sat Sanogo early on in the season.

So much to love about this team. Sooo deep.

On that late drive where he came down the lane late and dumped it off to Sanogo I would have liked to see Andre slow it down a bit and launch to the rim himself--he has plenty of athleticism to get there, but he goes so fast that he feels like he's out of control. It was a good decision to get it to Sanogo but I just think he can drop it one gear and still get to the rim.

 

[Umami Zen]

IMO. 12 rounds with Tyson.. We weren't pretty we had flaws. But we won
Got hit in the mouth/face multiple times and we responded.

Is not about style points. We got the W.

Adama played with BB IQ w/4 fouls. RJ was clutch at the line.. Polley showed up when we needed him.

BTW..As good as Hawk was earlier in the game. Don't think its a bad thing early in the schedule for him to be humbled a little bit

 

[WhereistheDove?]

Maybe I’m missing something, but Auburn has UConn all out of sorts for the last ten minutes of regulation because of the press. And then it felt like Pearl just called it off unless he was down in the OT periods. Very odd to see.

 

[Pudge]

Few big conference coaches think like Tom Davis ... which begat Bruce Pearl. The notion that you play 3 PG/wild guys 5'10-6'1 reminds me of John Bagley Michael Adams and that other squirt. Press press. Pull the undersized guards down to the Bigs to slap balls away and rebound. That is all Dr Tom. Pearl plays those three and they disrupt the game and gave the War Eagles a shot. Smith is good. There are mid-major programs that will press and shoot confident 3 like that. The intensity is more with Pearl. When they get their 6'6 best player Flanigan back ... I wonder how they play.

We should be thankful TODAY that Tyler Polley came back. Isiah Whaley didn't score etc ... but always is there for the little winning plays. I think Auburn/Pearl took advantage that only Cole could really keep one of the 3 guards held up. Hurley needs a solution as we will see that again. In some form,

 

[upstater]

AJ isn't a good shooter, but he is quick with great hops, maybe they can isolate and have him drive around defender for a dunk. A few of those ought to help.

Did he foul that kid at the end of the 1st OT? I don't think so. Seemed he went straight up for the block.

 

[superjohn]

Hawkins might not be here long? There is this guy name Sonogo.

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

 

[Adesmar123]

Did a postgame stream with my thoughts on CT Scoreboard today after the game. Had some tech issues but should be good at this time stamp

Is this a drinking game? Are we supposed to take a shot whenever you say "there"?

 

[karstenkibbe]

And better than AJs sophomore year so far, too.

I really love Jackson’s athleticism, but I’m still skeptical of the entire package. Those two early fouls reminded me of last year’s fouls/minutes rate and for every two highlight passes, there’s a questionable pass that leads to a turnover. Hoping to see him contribute more on offense tomorrow.

 

[HuskyFich]

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.

 

[444JR]

Count me very excited to have guards like Corey Floyd Jr and Stephon Castle in the pipeline who will be able to boss other big guards like Auburn’s KD Johnson and St John’s Dylan Addae-Wusu(see last year’s matchup). Johnson’s strength and aggression was a problem today. Hell of a fight from our guys. Deserved the win three different times.

 

[TRest]

Maybe I’m missing something, but Auburn has UConn all out of sorts for the last ten minutes of regulation because of the press. And then it felt like Pearl just called it off unless he was down in the OT periods. Very odd to see.

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.

 

[SubbaBub]

Guessing every team in America is gonna press us after seeing today's game. We've sacrificed some ball-handling in favor of length and athleticism. Gotta be ready for it next time.

I hope so. That way by March we'll have it beat.

 

[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.