Thoughts

[nelsonmuntz]

Uhhh we some kind of production down low to take the pressure off of the perimeter guys. And the refs giveth and taketh. They can’t do everything that’s why it’s a team sport.

Someone has to get them the ball, and I didn't see a lot of entry passes. There also wasn't a lot of pressure on the perimeter guys because SMU's defense is not great. There were a lot of open looks.

 

[AdamaNation]

Just glad to see Adams play solid and Gaffney shoot well. Getting that on a regular basis would be huge. That was one of the best offensive performances we’ve had all year.

I feel smu should be better than their record. They score pretty easily at every position and totally exposed us when we went to zone. Still we fought to the end. Where would we be right now if we had polley or if Akok was playing more comfortably? I think sid was not awful just rusty again. He’s our best 3p shooter(statistically)!! As far as a big. I would take any physical specimen at the 3/4/5 or a semi mobile tough guy at the 5. We don’t need another stretch 4 right now with Tyler Akok and sid(?).

 

[uconnfan68]

The team gets torched from outside and it is the bigs' fault? That is stellar analysis on your part.

The refs also gifted us several calls, so we can't blame them for tonight. The team didn't play any defense at all, and the only reason they came back was SMU inexplicably went into this loose 1-3-1 that left everyone wide open for about 4 minutes.

Gifted us? They missed just enough to guarantee their jobs next year.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

We get nothing from them down low offensively and it was a layup line for them defensively. When they weren't late on rotations they were put in the spin cycle. Of course Nelson would be the one guy to think the bigs are a strength on this team.

Lakers will finish 10th in the West!

To be clear, I wasn't defending the bigs, i was just pointing out that you don't know what you are talking about, and singling out 3 players when the defense was atrocious all around is both idiotic, but also completely consistent with your agenda. You don't give analysis, you simply attack players.

SMU was simply isolating and attacking. It was all 1-on-1 (as evidenced by a modest 50% assist ratio) and no one could stay in front of them. There wasn't a lot to do on rotations since so much of the scoring was simply UConn players getting beat to the rim.

Since you were too much of a p&*#$ to make a prediction about the NBA, you can EAD.

 

[Jaker]

I expect a 30pt game from Bouk soon.

 

[superjohn]

To be clear, I wasn't defending the bigs, i was just pointing out that you don't know what you are talking about, and singling out 3 players when the defense was atrocious all around is both idiotic, but also completely consistent with your agenda. You don't give analysis, you simply attack players.

SMU was simply isolating and attacking. It was all 1-on-1 (as evidenced by a modest 50% assist ratio) and no one could stay in front of them. There wasn't a lot to do on rotations since so much of the scoring was simply UConn players getting beat to the rim.

Since you were too much of a p&*#$ to make a prediction about the NBA, you can EAD.

I'm so in your head you aren't even responding to what I posted.

Lakers will finish 10th in the West!

We're gonna be really good soon. Our bigs just aren't nearly good enough and with Akok in this major funk it'a glaring. Our young backcourt is going to be beastly, Bouknight is already there and we're just seeing the beginning but Gaff is also going to be damn good, he still hasn't shown off the athleticism he has in there. Adams is going to be a really good 4 year guard. Throw in Cole and that's serious. We're going to be good next year, we're just that big time big away from what could be a great team.

Had to fight uphill too much with that bad stretch from Hurley going zone and keeping AG in when he was in really bad form. We fought like crazy and had our chances. We missed a couple 1 and 1's and it's tough to come all the way back against a team that never misses ft's. If Hurley reels in that 1 big man recruit, look out.

This conference is an abomination from the refs, travel, gyms, fanbases, and tonight is the capper with the lower than a high school game broadcast. Thankful we'll never have to play in that gym again and watch the game through a peephole from outer space.

 

[JB75]

I'm not even mad about it - we just didn't have it. Just looked gassed, lethargic and just not precise. Even though we've had bad performances, our defense is never bad and today it just was. And the effort down the stretch was there and we almost stole one.

Oh well.

So much for us running the table and getting an at -large. Lol. God , smu didn’t miss. Damn. Wudda been fun to go into Sunday’s game vs Memphis on a big winning streak. Oh well. Just can’t get over the hump. Maybe next year.

 

[Huskybass]

I just think we exercise poor judgment too often to overcome it. Things like rushed line drive 3's, driving into the trees, careless passes, etc. occur too often for our talent to overcome it.

I thought SMU had much better spacing for most of the game, which afforded them plenty of good looks. I think that had as much to do with their offensive success as any shortfall by our defense. They executed well and did a nice job of finding the open man. Sure we had some defensive lapses, but a lot of their baskets came off of really good execution.

By contrast our spacing often appears congested to me. Just an observation.

 

[superjohn]

Since Nelson thinks it's absurd to say our bigs just aren't nearly good enough and with Akok in a major funk it's more glaring.

These are some #'s from our 3 bigs lately. Igbanu outscored our 3 bigs 57-32 over the 2 games against Tulsa. Hunt just got a career high and outscored our 3 bigs 23-11. Our starting center is averaging 4 ppg over his laat 7 games.

 

[bazz&boujee]

it’s almost obnoxious how good vegas is

 

[AJP12]

Someone has to get them the ball, and I didn't see a lot of entry passes. There also wasn't a lot of pressure on the perimeter guys because SMU's defense is not great. There were a lot of open looks.

I can recall at least 3 different times where we tried entry passes to Carlton. Twice it was stolen because he cant move or jump and his man simply sidestepped him and jumped in front to tip the ball away. The other time he had great position down low, sealed his man right under the hoop. Got the ball, but again because he cant move or jump, he held it a second to compose himself, brought it down to his waist, and guys trapped him and he dropped it out of bounds for a turnover. Anybody with any athleticism at all would've caught it and went straight up with it for an easy lay in.

Our problems this year are very simple. We have no pg (this issue is improving with gaffney replacing gilbert, but he’s still a freshman) and we have no big man. Its really that simple. But in your “expert” analysis you constantly blame the coach.

 

[Towney007]

If there was anything we knew about this team heading in - and that was seemingly regardless of whether said person thought the glass was half full or empty... the one thing the whole Boneyard seemed to agree on heading into this season was..... that our front court was a massive issue.

If Akok's not going, it's a dumpster fire. There's no getting around it. We just don't have the bullets.

 

[Okafour rings]

I feel smu should be better than their record. They score pretty easily at every position and totally exposed us when we went to zone. Still we fought to the end. Where would we be right now if we had polley or if Akok was playing more comfortably? I think sid was not awful just rusty again. He’s our best 3p shooter(statistically)!! As far as a big. I would take any physical specimen at the 3/4/5 or a semi mobile tough guy at the 5. We don’t need another stretch 4 right now with Tyler Akok and sid(?).

Sid our best 3-pt. shooter?? He went into this game shooting 27.3%, tied with Akok and Gaffney as the WORST shooters from behind the arc on the team. Polley was our best for the season at 40.5%, followed by Bouknight at 38.1%. Everyone else is under 33%. Hopefully we see a big improvement next year.

Speaking of 3-pt shooting, SMU came into the game shooting 34.8% and promptly hit 53% of their shots against us. Part of it was our defense, but they were unconscious tonight.

 

[Shine33]

Where does SMU find all of these talented kids?

Texas is a hot bed for athletes.

 

[nashusky109]

Caught only the second half but it seems like every shot SMU put up went in. Part of that was the bad perimeter defense but they also have the #15 offense for a reason. They have scorers on every level.
From the half that I saw it also looked like once again there were more calls that went against us than was for us. I will say though the refs did gift us a couple down the stretch. That stretch when Al came in combined with going to zone right after really killed us but I don’t blame coach for switching it up. Interior defense was no good tonight. Really shows when Akok (anyone know what’s up with him) isn’t on his A game.

also did I read somewhere that Adams is on pace to graduate next year and will be a 3 year player? I could’ve sworn I read something about that but can’t find it anywhere.

 

[bazz&boujee]

rewatching UConn/SMU aac championship from 2015. omg purvis was the king of getting pass, shot faking to drive while traveling !!! absolutely killed us lol

 

[Travelman6]

Honestly, this is getting insane.

Historically, is there a team that has had a more brutal season than this UConn team? And the year is not even done yet.

Loses by 9, 1, 3, 3, 6, 4, 4, 7 and 4.

9 single-digit losses by a total of 41 points. (7 by 25 or just over 3.5 points per game).

1-3 in OT games.

Wow. How would one even comb through all the stats over the years to find other teams as snake-bitten as this?

4-9 in single-digit games (one of those wins is a 10 point win vs St. Peters)

I would not be shocked in the least if that hit 5-12 or 6-12 by the end of the season or even more.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I'm so in your head you aren't even responding to what I posted.

Now you are going to pretend you are trolling when you get called out for posting something stupid? Don't ever go full scaleeto.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Since Nelson thinks it's absurd to say our bigs just aren't nearly good enough and with Akok in a major funk it's more glaring.

These are some #'s from our 3 bigs lately. Igbanu outscored our 3 bigs 57-32 over the 2 games against Tulsa. Hunt just got a career high and outscored our 3 bigs 23-11. Our starting center is averaging 4 ppg over his laat 7 games.

Sure. They clearly aren't good enough. And Akok is absolutely playing at no better than 50% of what he was in Charleston and shortly after. Not sure if injuries, a freshman wall or something else. Even that high effort motor where he used to beat everyone down the floor on D is not there.

That said, Nelson is correct that Josh can't score, except via offensive rebounds, when we never put him in the post and get him the ball. Hurley seems to have intentionally removed that from the game plan. If that's because it's not part of his offense going forward and he wants the team to adapt, I get that. But Josh is nearly useless in that system on offense. I can't give Josh a full pass on his play, he drops too many passes and rebounds and doesn't finish strong. But a center isn't supposed to create his own shots, and we aren't getting him the ball.

Honestly, I think just having Springs this year might have been worth two more wins. We are so weak inside. Even with no other big Javonte Brown Ferguson and Springs are upgrades next year. I do expect Hurley will get somebody else, and I really do not see how Josh fits going forward.

 

[jibsey]

I’m really happy with Whaley’s progression but Hurley needs a big man. I’ll take a Kevin Freeman clone. That would make us sweet sixteen next year.

 

[Hoops91]

If they get a power center next year, whoever that is UCONN is going to be really good next year.

PG - Cole
SG - Gaffney
SF - Bouknight
PF -AKOK
C- ? (Someone that rebounds like crazy) not Carlton


Plenty of offense...

They'll have great guards, bouknight the true scorer like Rip. AKOK and another true big with Whaley coming off the bench. They'll have depth with Adams and maybe a freshman - I haven't been this excited in years but they 100% need another true center..

 

[Conndog]

Akok needs to become offensive threat down low, if possible. I would love him to put on some more weight and be rebound/banger type. Imagine if he develops some moves down low, some nice pivots, etc. physically, he has body like Kevin McKale- could he develop similar game? Let other guys shoot the outside shot, if he is too far from basket, he can’t get any rebounds.

 

[superjohn]

The team gets torched from outside and it is the bigs' fault? That is stellar analysis on your part.

The refs also gifted us several calls, so we can't blame them for tonight. The team didn't play any defense at all, and the only reason they came back was SMU inexplicably went into this loose 1-3-1 that left everyone wide open for about 4 minutes.

Look at how transparent this moron is...

SMU was getting to the rim at will. Some of our defenders, particularly Akok, were just backing up and letting them get to the hoop.

 

[Fatroony5]

Sure. They clearly aren't good enough. And Akok is absolutely playing at no better than 50% of what he was in Charleston and shortly after. Not sure if injuries, a freshman wall or something else. Even that high effort motor where he used to beat everyone down the floor on D is not there.

That said, Nelson is correct that Josh can't score, except via offensive rebounds, when we never put him in the post and get him the ball. Hurley seems to have intentionally removed that from the game plan. If that's because it's not part of his offense going forward and he wants the team to adapt, I get that. But Josh is nearly useless in that system on offense. I can't give Josh a full pass on his play, he drops too many passes and rebounds and doesn't finish strong. But a center isn't supposed to create his own shots, and we aren't getting him the ball.

Honestly, I think just having Springs this year might have been worth two more wins. We are so weak inside. Even with no other big Javonte Brown Ferguson and Springs are upgrades next year. I do expect Hurley will get somebody else, and I really do not see how Josh fits going forward.

It seems like early in games they are content to try and feed JC down low. Problem is a few things. One, the guards are making it more difficult for him to be effective on the block. The entry passes have not been great. Lob passes from well beyond the three point line, passes from the top of the key that get tipped and stolen. That’s not good offense so some of that is on our guards trying to force that action. That being said, JC weakness is his footwork and hands. He can’t adjust well to non perfect passes. Seems like after the first few minutes, Dan Hurley is fine with moving away from that. JC is just not a good finisher. This team would look so much different if we had a physical, strong big who had good hands and decent footwork. Don’t need a 20/10 guy, but they do need at least some production from their front court guys.

 

[AJP12]

The team gets torched from outside and it is the bigs' fault? That is stellar analysis on your part.

The refs also gifted us several calls, so we can't blame them for tonight. The team didn't play any defense at all, and the only reason they came back was SMU inexplicably went into this loose 1-3-1 that left everyone wide open for about 4 minutes.

They made 9 three pointers. Not exactly torched. Granted, they made half of them, but we made 11 at a 45% clip. You can win games giving up 9 threes.

Where they also killed us at a greater degree was inside. We outscored them from 3. How badly do you think they outscored us in the paint? They, primarily, Hunt and Davis repeatedly drove and we had nobody to offer any help defense. Carlton may as well not even be there, that's how much help D he offers. At one point their 5'8 guard drove in and took one dribble past him and calmly laid it up and under for a lay in. The same exact play that Gilbert has been blocked on about 50 times this year.

I've said a hundred times, but I'm going to say it again since you apparently are a slow learner. Carlton and Gilbert are THE reasons we lose these games. The 2 guys you refuse to criticize and constantly bash posters for criticizing. All our players make mistakes. But they do it a few times. Carlton and AG are constantly making negative plays because they have (had) the ball so much. So you can continue condescendingly poo pooing other posters while you continue to be wrong at every turn and blaming Hurley and everyone but those 2. But you will continue to be wrong.

You think its a coincidence that we finally started pulling out those close W's when both saw their playtime significantly cut?

 

[AJP12]

I though Bouk and Gaffney did great for the most part. I do wonder if Gaffney is still a not quite 100%. He goes east west a lot and can't really get by his man. I think he is more athletic than that. Bouk plays like a Junior, and a damn good one. When was the last time on of our freshman scored over 20 points 3 straight games?

I thought Hurley stayed with Gilbert a few too many possessions at one point, but then he hit 2 big 3s later to get us back into it. Missed free throws hurt, especially the front end by Whaley, that's essentially a turnover.

That said, next year should be exciting. With Cole our spacing should be better and I suspect we will see Cole, Gaffney and Bouk on the court together a lot. That's an exciting trio. Add Andre Jackson and an improved Akok, as well as senior Josh and it's a real nice nucleus. Not to mention a really good role player in Adams.

We are close, but not quite there yet.

Yeah I'm not sure what is up with Gaffney. He played well last night and has been improving. He has a great stroke and moves the ball well and quickly. But he has yet to flash any athleticism at all, and some on here were billing him as "Westbrook-ish" (lol).

The only issue I see is that he is soooo passive and soft. He's like the guard version of Carlton. They both sort of just fling the ball to the hoop and avoid contact, rather than taking it strong.

I want to see Gaffney develop a little bit of an edge to him. Carlton, to his credit, flashes that edge from time to time. Unfortunately, his physical limitations hold him back. But if Gaffney gets some confidence and a little edge, he could be really good for us.

 

[Towney007]

Some wild stuff in here.

Carlton just isn't and shouldn't be considered a focal point on offense for us anymore and if he is - we're in way worse trouble than we think. He's going to have to adjust to the style here and frankly, i'm not sure he will. Good kid, but he's not a fit here in this system anymore. He'll get time because we need his body, but expecting anything outside of that is a big, fat lol.

Gaffney's a freshman's freshman. He's being asked to start before he's ready because Gilbert's just not very good - and all things considered - has been pretty darn transformational for this ballclub. Yes, he shoots like crap, yes he's timid, sometimes soft - and he's 100% THE GUY on the floor who you can watch and see that when the game speeds up, he struggles to keep up. But he's not dribble driving into traffic every third possession, he's not throwing the ball into the stands and bouncing balls off guys' feet. Our overall degree of competitiveness with him running the show is like night and day compared to Gilbert.

We're better than our record, we've got a shot at a goofy run... we need to get Akok cooking again, but he just looks beat up and totally gassed... But I've been mostly pleased with all of the adjustments and improvements on the team.

 

[jibsey]

I saw Akok setting a screen a while back. He looked like a toothpick stick figure. That body type doesn’t gain weight easily. shot blocker fine but he’s going to need to pull up for mid range jumpers to get his O.

 

[UConn2SF]

Yeah I'm not sure what is up with Gaffney. He played well last night and has been improving. He has a great stroke and moves the ball well and quickly. But he has yet to flash any athleticism at all, and some on here were billing him as "Westbrook-ish" (lol).

The only issue I see is that he is soooo passive and soft. He's like the guard version of Carlton. They both sort of just fling the ball to the hoop and avoid contact, rather than taking it strong.

I want to see Gaffney develop a little bit of an edge to him. Carlton, to his credit, flashes that edge from time to time. Unfortunately, his physical limitations hold him back. But if Gaffney gets some confidence and a little edge, he could be really good for us.

I agree, we havent seen it. But was Mike Rice, the disgraced former Rutgers coach that first compared him to Westbrook. Rice coached Gaffney's AAU team for 4 years.

 

[PAHusky]

Akok needs to become offensive threat down low, if possible. I would love him to put on some more weight and be rebound/banger type. Imagine if he develops some moves down low, some nice pivots, etc. physically, he has body like Kevin McKale- could he develop similar game? Let other guys shoot the outside shot, if he is too far from basket, he can’t get any rebounds.

I actually don't mind akok shooting threes. He's got a pretty good natural stroke, and while he's missing a lot they're not bad misses - usually in and out. Tends to take them at the end of the shot clock with a hand in his face too