Thoughts

[FeedTheDove]

I've been eager to pour out some thoughts ever since the game ended tonight, so here it goes...

Bazz - It's Bazz and it was an exhibition game. Not going to go into detail. Tried to get his teammates involved the entire game.

Boat - Positives: It was almost the best game Boat has ever played at UConn. One word: Mature. He created offense for his teammates, made smart passes, and didn't try to do too much. He attacked when necessary and hit open shots. He was never out of control and he may have broken one kid's ankles tonight. It was a devastating crossover.

Deandre - Positives: Okay, I know it's Southern, so I won't overreact. It was effortless for him. An easy 23 and 11. Post moves, shots, drives were all there. At times he seemed like he was the only one on the team with rebounds. Oh yeah... he absolutely dunk faced their center. Ruthless.
Negatives: I suppose if there has to be a negative it would be being stronger with the ball. When receiving the ball a few times and trying to face-up, defenders would knock it loose causing turnovers... that won't fly with more physical competition.

Niels - Positives: He will be the spot up 3-point shooter that we've always imagined him becoming. Also he can take it to the rack hard.

Phil - Positives: Phil was extremely aggressive tonight which was very refreshing. He had some nice moves in the post and battled for some offensive rebounds. He got to the line a few times as a result of going to work in the post. Early on it seemed the guards were focused on getting him the ball in the post and letting him go to work.
Negatives: While I don't think it will be too much of a problem, he missed quite a few free throws. He also needs to work on handling easy passes better. If he is to be taken seriously as this team's starting center eventually, he will have to be able to handle routine dimes dropped to him in the post for an easy dunk or lay in. Bottom line.

Tyler - I've said it before and I'll say it again; the abuse that Tyler takes from the fans (students especially) is absolutely unbearable for me. Sitting in the student section, it's almost like every time he touches the ball someone shouts out "UGH NOT TYLER... WHY IS HE ON THE TEAM." Well genius, if you'd look at our thin front court you'd understand just how important he is to this team. (End rant)
Positives: To me, Tyler played outstanding defense. After getting his first foul a few minutes into the game, he played some straight-up tough D that resulted in a few steals and numerous stops. He made a couple nice moves to the hoop. Seemed decently active on the boards although...
Negatives: ...for this team to succeed in the post season, he (as well as each and every big man) needs to be more than active on the boards. CRASH THEM HARD.

Amida - (The crowd favorite) Positives: He will eat you alive... with his hands. (I know, Southern.) But his shot blocking tonight was more than exciting to see nonetheless. Seeing that many blocks from one guy in a UConn uni again is just awesome. He also had some surprisingly nice post moves... hopefully they weren't fools gold. And oh yeah... a couple of alley oops that brought the house down.
Negatives: I don't know what else to say other than BOX #$! OUT. Oh my lord I think he had maybe 2 rebounds the entire game that happened to fall in his hands. It was so hard to watch him try and rebound!!! At times, he gets so focused on trying to block a shot that he just gets caught way too high in the air and completely... COMPLETELY loses position for a rebound. Needs to be worked on ASAP... and if it improves... he could be big for us...

Omar - Positives: I've always thought that the best facet of Omar's game was his shot-fake/take 2-3 dribbles in/pull up midrange jumper. That is an absolutely beautiful thing to watch. Moved well today and had a couple of nice drives.
Negatives: Struggled to find his shot but I honestly doubt it will be a problem as the season goes on. He'll be fine. I have a feeling he was a little upset about Niels getting the start tonight.

TSamuel - Positives: Saw lots of action today and for the most part handled the basketball well. Nice and-one at one point.
Negatives: I don't know if it's because of his height, but it seems like he dribbles the ball very high. He looked uncomfortable with the ball his first few minutes out there but loosened up.

Leon - Positives: The threes! Keep them coming! Dead-eye!
Negatives: You can use your body to keep your man in front of you... but when you literally lean into him, you're going to get called for a foul.

Kromah - Positives: Seems like a very athletic and sound player. Had a great and-one today making an athletic move to avoid the charge and still scooped in the lay in. He just adds to this team's outstanding 2/3 spot depth.

Facey - A lot of people seem to be writing Kentan off so early... Relax. He didn't get much playing time tonight because Amida stole the show from the bigs. He seemed comfortable out there but obviously didn't contribute a whole lot. I'm expecting him to get more comfortable contributing to the offense and making it his duty to rebound the basketball. Had a nice stroke on his jumper that he unfortunately missed.

Tor Watts - Happy birthday. Make your free throws.

Pat Lehenan - Nice to see him in the game.

Rodney - Really, really, really, really, really wants to play this year.

Fans - Hopefully the Red Sox game was the cause of the poor attendance (and the fact that it was an exhibition game.) Students had an awesome turn out for an exhibition game. Expecting games this year to be louder than recent years.

That was long.

 

[OklahomaUconn]

Great evaluation

 

[Ts5034]

Once again, I know it was just an exhibition vs SCSU but what we saw tonight is probably what we can expect for the season. Daniels will most likely be the teams leading scorer, Brimah will be a force on the defensive end blocking shots, and I will guarantee we have the best backcourt in the country. It seems that Boatright improved his all around game, Shabazz is Shabazz and we know what to expect from him, and dont sleep on Kromah. He will be a huge addition to this team just from experience alone. We have guys that can hit the 3 with Giffey, Calhoun, even Tolksdorf. We just have to make sure we rebound, limit turnovers, and hit free throws.

 

[OklahomaUconn]

Once again, I know it was just an exhibition vs SCSU but what we saw tonight is probably what we can expect for the season. Daniels will most likely be the teams leading scorer, Brimah will be a force on the defensive end blocking shots, and I will guarantee we have the best backcourt in the country. It seems that Boatright improved his all around game, Shabazz is Shabazz and we know what to expect from him, and dont sleep on Kromah. He will be a huge addition to this team just from experience alone. We have guys that can hit the 3 with Giffey, Calhoun, even Tolksdorf. We just have to make sure we rebound, limit turnovers, and hit free throws.

I think Deandre will average 15-18ppg but i think shabazz will as well, remember how hungry he is for the nba? So those two will be our top 2 and shabazz i could see dropping a bit to 10-12 ppg but upping his apg to 6.5-7.5

 

[ColoradoUCFan]

Fans - Hopefully the Red Sox game was the cause of the poor attendance (and the fact that it was an exhibition game.)

From where I sat watching a really poor stream on my laptop, the attendance looked good. I was officially 5000 people. That's super all things considered. It was the Red Sox in the World Series, and an exhibition game vs Southern. I expected much lower attendance.

 

[mauconnfan]

Good summary now I don't need to throw mine out as they are similar.

A couple things of note, Brimah trying to block shots and being out of position to rebound is no different than any shot blocker we've had. That's why they need to choose but while asking that you may take away their passion to protect at all times. He is a TRUE shot blocker or will be eventually and rebounding is for everyone else when he goes to help or distract. But he did not box out a few times I agree but neither did.....anyone! I was watching closely and they did not do a good job at all of finding someone to rear off the ball.......Nolan too and he was taken out for losing a rebound due to not boxing out. I realize it was SCSU and they figured they were bigger and stronger but they got out rebounded.......can't happen and that is by far the biggest negative you can take from this one. They all need to work on the fundamentals and to understand how important it is to go get the rebound. Can't run without the ball..........1st game, a scrimmage so let's see what happens after KO gets them back in practice and they get into the rebounding drills they dread so much.........hopefully that becomes a focus for Concordia

 

[bear]

Great summary, I'll give my abbreviated observations because I'm still fired up from the game last night.

Phil: I really like the way Phil worked down low. He was very aggressive really efficient in the limited minutes he played. Just based on the eye test, he appears to be our best rebounder and if he can stay out of foul trouble, I see no reason why he can give us 7-9 RPG pretty consistently.

Amida: So fun to watch it's scary. His energy is infectious and nobody looks like they are having more fun. Obviously he'll have to clean a few things up but I'm excited to watch this kid over the next couple years and I'm really happy that he's ours.

Kromah: I think that he could be as good a 3rd point guard as we've ever had. Having him will be very important. Gives us a leadership and experience in the back court and gives Samuel time to learn and develop at his own pace.

Boat: Looked great. Honestly couldn't have expected anything more than what he gave. Control, maturity, and offense creation.

Tolksdorf: If he can give us 1 or 2 corner 3's per game I think we'll all take it.

Giffey: Liked what I saw, definitely asserting himself. Really looking forward to seeing him at the 4 on monday.

Bazz: Got others involved, controlled tempo. He'll look for his shot more when we need him to score.

Not going to go through everyone as I think we've got it covered. God damn did I miss basketball season.

 

[caw]

Good summary now I don't need to throw mine out as they are similar.

A couple things of note, Brimah trying to block shots and being out of position to rebound is no different than any shot blocker we've had. That's why they need to choose but while asking that you may take away their passion to protect at all times. He is a TRUE shot blocker or will be eventually and rebounding is for everyone else when he goes to help or distract. But he did not box out a few times I agree but neither did.....anyone! I was watching closely and they did not do a good job at all of finding someone to rear off the ball.......Nolan too and he was taken out for losing a rebound due to not boxing out. I realize it was SCSU and they figured they were bigger and stronger but they got out rebounded.......can't happen and that is by far the biggest negative you can take from this one. They all need to work on the fundamentals and to understand how important it is to go get the rebound. Can't run without the ball..........1st game, a scrimmage so let's see what happens after KO gets them back in practice and they get into the rebounding drills they dread so much.........hopefully that becomes a focus for Concordia

Aside from Okafor, who may have been one of the best college shot blockers ever. Okafor was fantastic at knowing when to go for a block and when to box out. Not to mention his second jump and timing were superb. But I digress...

 

[Dmike]

Two things not mentioned here stood out to me from last night's game:

First, Giffey did not looking good driving the ball in the half court and had two silly turnovers. Although, his euro-step in the 1st half was pretty cool and I might add fitting.

Second, Kromah was awesome. Five assists? He was a facilitator and brought the ball up a bunch. I was expecting him to be more of a slasher who played adequate defense, I did not realize how good he was with the ball in his hands. I have never had a preseason game get me so excited for the season. With what we know about last year's team - all with a year's improvement and the play of Brimah, Samuels, and particularly Kromah - I am thrilled. Facey didn't impress like the others, but he has all season to develop - he wasn't bad just freshman-like. He may very well turn out to be the best of the bunch over time - even this season.

 

[DCUconnfan]

Two things not mentioned here stood out to me from last night's game:

First, Giffey did not looking good driving the ball in the half court and had two silly turnovers. Although, his euro-step in the 1st half was pretty cool and I might add fitting.

Second, Kromah was awesome. Five assists? He was a facilitator and brought the ball up a bunch. I was expecting him to be more of a slasher who played adequate defense, I did not realize how good he was with the ball in his hands. I have never had a preseason game get me so excited for the season. With what we know about last year's team - all with a year's improvement and the play of Brimah, Samuels, and particularly Kromah - I am thrilled. Facey didn't impress like the others, but he has all season to develop - he wasn't bad just freshman-like. He may very well turn out to be the best of the bunch over time - even this season.

I second the thought on Giffey - while his jump shot looks much improved on form/release time, after seeing him play in a couple euro games on youtube, his ballhandling last night vs. what I saw this summer was not what I anticipated (don't get me wrong, he's 6'7" and a forward, but I expected to see some of those summer moves & improvement on display on top of his shot). Still a fantastic 6th man, I think he's one of the most underrated defenders on the team, and if he can pull 40+ from beyond the arc this year that'll really help open stuff up for us.

 

[freescooter]

I guess I know the answer, but I have to ask why we even play these games. I can't imagine they are even that valuable. I have to admit I didn't watch this game (I've been a Red Sox fan since birth, went to my first game at Fenways when I was 4) but I'm not sure that the fact that player X gets points or rebounds against a substantially smaller slower opponent is of much relevance. these games are so much worse match ups than even the cupcake match ups. its almost pick your number. I think the NCAA now allows "private" scrimmages against other D1 schools and that to me would be far more valuable to the team, though maybe not to the Athletic Department Budget.

 

[Ts5034]

I guess I know the answer, but I have to ask why we even play these games. I can't imagine they are even that valuable. I have to admit I didn't watch this game (I've been a Red Sox fan since birth, went to my first game at Fenways when I was 4) but I'm not sure that the fact that player X gets points or rebounds against a substantially smaller slower opponent is of much relevance. these games are so much worse match ups than even the cupcake match ups. its almost pick your number. I think the NCAA now allows "private" scrimmages against other D1 schools and that to me would be far more valuable to the team, though maybe not to the Athletic Department Budget.

Exhibition games are really just glorified practices. Its good for the kids to finally play against another team instead of just intra squad scrimmages. I like the idea of playing in state schools to generate more interest and boost attendance for these games.

 

[freescooter]

Its nice for the southern kids, but I'm not sure it has much value beyond that. And we gave up 65 points to Southern? Worst Exhibition performance in a long while I think, but again, I'm not sure it demonstrates anything. Prefer a closed scrimmage against a D-1 team if it were me. No need for attendance.

 

[Waquoit]

Niels - Positives: He will be the spot up 3-point shooter that we've always imagined him becoming.

I hope so, but not based on this game. He makes a three, than bricks the next 2 or 3 off the front rim. His release is still inconsistant. It's like he's aiming and pushing instead of a flowing shot.

 

[Huskies4ever]

I've been eager to pour out some thoughts ever since the game ended tonight, so here it goes...

Bazz - It's Bazz and it was an exhibition game. Not going to go into detail. Tried to get his teammates involved the entire game.

Boat - Positives: It was almost the best game Boat has ever played at UConn. One word: Mature. He created offense for his teammates, made smart passes, and didn't try to do too much. He attacked when necessary and hit open shots. He was never out of control and he may have broken one kid's ankles tonight. It was a devastating crossover.

Deandre - Positives: Okay, I know it's Southern, so I won't overreact. It was effortless for him. An easy 23 and 11. Post moves, shots, drives were all there. At times he seemed like he was the only one on the team with rebounds. Oh yeah... he absolutely dunk faced their center. Ruthless.
Negatives: I suppose if there has to be a negative it would be being stronger with the ball. When receiving the ball a few times and trying to face-up, defenders would knock it loose causing turnovers... that won't fly with more physical competition.

Niels - Positives: He will be the spot up 3-point shooter that we've always imagined him becoming. Also he can take it to the rack hard.

Phil - Positives: Phil was extremely aggressive tonight which was very refreshing. He had some nice moves in the post and battled for some offensive rebounds. He got to the line a few times as a result of going to work in the post. Early on it seemed the guards were focused on getting him the ball in the post and letting him go to work.
Negatives: While I don't think it will be too much of a problem, he missed quite a few free throws. He also needs to work on handling easy passes better. If he is to be taken seriously as this team's starting center eventually, he will have to be able to handle routine dimes dropped to him in the post for an easy dunk or lay in. Bottom line.

Tyler - I've said it before and I'll say it again; the abuse that Tyler takes from the fans (students especially) is absolutely unbearable for me. Sitting in the student section, it's almost like every time he touches the ball someone shouts out "UGH NOT TYLER... WHY IS HE ON THE TEAM." Well genius, if you'd look at our thin front court you'd understand just how important he is to this team. (End rant)
Positives: To me, Tyler played outstanding defense. After getting his first foul a few minutes into the game, he played some straight-up tough D that resulted in a few steals and numerous stops. He made a couple nice moves to the hoop. Seemed decently active on the boards although...
Negatives: ...for this team to succeed in the post season, he (as well as each and every big man) needs to be more than active on the boards. CRASH THEM HARD.

Amida - (The crowd favorite) Positives: He will eat you alive... with his hands. (I know, Southern.) But his shot blocking tonight was more than exciting to see nonetheless. Seeing that many blocks from one guy in a UConn uni again is just awesome. He also had some surprisingly nice post moves... hopefully they weren't fools gold. And oh yeah... a couple of alley oops that brought the house down.
Negatives: I don't know what else to say other than BOX #$! OUT. Oh my lord I think he had maybe 2 rebounds the entire game that happened to fall in his hands. It was so hard to watch him try and rebound!!! At times, he gets so focused on trying to block a shot that he just gets caught way too high in the air and completely... COMPLETELY loses position for a rebound. Needs to be worked on ASAP... and if it improves... he could be big for us...

Omar - Positives: I've always thought that the best facet of Omar's game was his shot-fake/take 2-3 dribbles in/pull up midrange jumper. That is an absolutely beautiful thing to watch. Moved well today and had a couple of nice drives.
Negatives: Struggled to find his shot but I honestly doubt it will be a problem as the season goes on. He'll be fine. I have a feeling he was a little upset about Niels getting the start tonight.

TSamuel - Positives: Saw lots of action today and for the most part handled the basketball well. Nice and-one at one point.
Negatives: I don't know if it's because of his height, but it seems like he dribbles the ball very high. He looked uncomfortable with the ball his first few minutes out there but loosened up.

Leon - Positives: The threes! Keep them coming! Dead-eye!
Negatives: You can use your body to keep your man in front of you... but when you literally lean into him, you're going to get called for a foul.

Kromah - Positives: Seems like a very athletic and sound player. Had a great and-one today making an athletic move to avoid the charge and still scooped in the lay in. He just adds to this team's outstanding 2/3 spot depth.

Facey - A lot of people seem to be writing Kentan off so early... Relax. He didn't get much playing time tonight because Amida stole the show from the bigs. He seemed comfortable out there but obviously didn't contribute a whole lot. I'm expecting him to get more comfortable contributing to the offense and making it his duty to rebound the basketball. Had a nice stroke on his jumper that he unfortunately missed.

Tor Watts - Happy birthday. Make your free throws.

Pat Lehenan - Nice to see him in the game.

Rodney - Really, really, really, really, really wants to play this year.

Fans - Hopefully the Red Sox game was the cause of the poor attendance (and the fact that it was an exhibition game.) Students had an awesome turn out for an exhibition game. Expecting games this year to be louder than recent years.

That was long.

You forgot to mention:

Omar - Selfish

 

[AZHuskiePop]

Two things not mentioned here stood out to me from last night's game:

First, Giffey did not looking good driving the ball in the half court and had two silly turnovers. Although, his euro-step in the 1st half was pretty cool and I might add fitting.

Second, Kromah was awesome. Five assists? He was a facilitator and brought the ball up a bunch. I was expecting him to be more of a slasher who played adequate defense, I did not realize how good he was with the ball in his hands. I have never had a preseason game get me so excited for the season. With what we know about last year's team - all with a year's improvement and the play of Brimah, Samuels, and particularly Kromah - I am thrilled. Facey didn't impress like the others, but he has all season to develop - he wasn't bad just freshman-like. He may very well turn out to be the best of the bunch over time - even this season.

For Facey and Samuel this is a learning year.
They have to grow enough to compete for time in 2014.
Facey is the 3rd or 4th option at either the 4 or 5 now. next year the second or first at the 4 and 3rd at the 5. He has big PF shoes to fill.
Samuel could become the most expererieced on ball option. If RB doesn't come back.
Having a shot blocking type 4 and 5 . with a tall 3.
could be interesting. But I think 2015 team will be a beast.

 

[Onions]

Its nice for the southern kids, but I'm not sure it has much value beyond that. And we gave up 65 points to Southern? Worst Exhibition performance in a long while I think, but again, I'm not sure it demonstrates anything. Prefer a closed scrimmage against a D-1 team if it were me. No need for attendance.

Actually it was only the worst exhibition performance since last year when Uconn was behind at the half in their first exhibition game and then won by 15. Yesterday there were a lot of positives, but rebounding and turnovers were something to be concerned about, especially considering how much KO said the team had worked on rebounding.

 

[joober jones]

Lenehan was an absolute beast standing on the court. If we get 1 minute of that every game, we'll be a championship contender.

 

[huskyharry]

Southern is actually not that bad of an opponent. Yesterday, the led against URI at half-time.
UConn certainly did make too many turnovers and did a poor job getting out on perimeter shooters & in transition defense, but it is a learning experience.