Today was the perfect example...

[Huskybass]

I thought the team looked very good today... for about the first 30 minutes. Then they took their foot off the gas pedal and looked very flat. If they just continued to play ball, this would have been a 20 plus point victory. Two W's so far without JC. Looking forward to the Seton Hall game. That ought to be a good one.

 

[Robertelamin]

Yeah I don't understand slowing things down with 10 minutes left. They end up running their offense with 10 seconds left and turn it over or get a terrible shot.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

the team was really goofing off the last 10 minutes. Within 3 possessions around the 10 minute mark in the second half, both Drummond and Daniels went coast to coast and tried to finish in traffic. That was when I switched over to Louisville/Kentucky because UConn wasn't taking the game seriously.

I don't mind letting up a little with a big lead, but it got pretty silly in the second half.

 

[RuffRuff]

This team still looks like it's coasting a bit to me - the sense or urgency isn't quite there and still feels a little street ball on offense at times. I'd expect at least one more WTF loss before February/meat of the schedule. And if I'm thinking the way Calhoun likely is and that's the eye on the real prise, I think he may actually see some value in one. I can see this team having some trouble in the next two swamp state away games - SHU has played well outside of being lambasted at the Carrier Dome and Rutgers riding high off a big win. By Feb, anyone playing like a dog will struggle to for minutes and the rotation starts taking shape.

Another game where it was very lopsided on the turnover margin - -8 today. I heard the lady announcer going into it a bit today - I know this is more of a FG defense team, but that stat needs to improve.

 

[UCHuskies08]

I thought the team looked very good today... for about the first 30 minutes. Then they took their foot off the gas pedal and looked very flat. If they just continued to play ball, this would have been a 20 plus point victory. Two W's so far without JC. Looking forward to the Seton Hall game. That ought to be a good one.

We won by 14.....

The walkons gave up 5 points in the last 15 seconds....

And people are complaining we didn't win by 20.................

 

[DMW88]

I thought they played really well today...hit open shots, moved the ball...Samson Johnson is so young, but they are going to be a good team...good Win...on to SH

 

[Huskybass]

We won by 14.....

The walkons gave up 5 points in the last 15 seconds....

And people are complaining we didn't win by 20.................

I wasn't complaining at all. Just stating that the team was more dominant than the final margin of victory would indicate. The team looked great when they attacked... not so great after they let up.

 

[Prezidint]

It took longer than usual for the balloon knot-complaints-about-the-victory thread to get started after the game today.

Surely a sign that the team is playing well.

 

[caw]

SJU did beat Providence, so they aren't the worst team in the BE this year, but they aren't good either. They have a good amount of talent to work with for next year. They really need another big and a PG.

 

[Huskybass]

An observation about what is more effective isn't necessarily a complaint. I'm thrilled with the 12-1 record. Just stating that the team was much more effective when they attacked the basket rather than just trying to kill the clock.

 

[Peacefrog]

It was a comfortable conference win and for most of the game the team played very well. Blaney had them start to run clock with 7 or 8 minutes left which was too early in my opinion. I would have rather they kept playing their regular game for another 3 or 4 minutes but it all worked out. A nice, balanced effort.

I thought it was kind of bulls*&t that St. Johns had their starters in playing pressure defense against our walk-ons when they are down 17 points with under a minute left. I'm all for playing right to the final whistle but come on. Just let the game end already.

 

[tykurez]

Don't have a problem with this thread at all (as opposed to the others that attack players.)

I don't like the slowdown offense and it allowed another team to hang around. They either need to get better at executing with the under-10 shotclock offense or keep the pedal to the floor.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

The team gets sloppy and lazy when they have a lead. If this isn't corrected soon it will lead to serious trouble.

 

[EricLA]

Yeah I don't understand slowing things down with 10 minutes left. They end up running their offense with 10 seconds left and turn it over or get a terrible shot.

maybe they wanted to make a point of working on the half court offense? i agree it would have been nicer to see an 18 point win, but once we were up by about 20, it wasn't a bad time to work on things we aren't as good at. clearly SJU cut into the lead - got it down to about 10 or so - but it certainly showed the coaches, and the players, that there are things that need working on.

 

[sparky]

When you get an opponent down you put your heel into their throat. When we go into our slow down game , it's like owning a Porsche and never taking it above 25mph. That being said, we will have to be better in the 1/2 court in the tourey, so we might as well get the kinks out now.

 

[imno1]

I thought it was kind of bulls*&t that St. Johns had their starters in playing pressure defense against our walk-ons when they are down 17 points with under a minute left. I'm all for playing right to the final whistle but come on. Just let the game end already.

They were probably trying to cover since the spread was 14

 

[Prezidint]

When we go into our slow down game , it's like owning a Porsche and never taking it above 25mph.

I'd phrase it like this - when we go into our slow down game, we have usually lapped the field, and it's not worth the risk to keep the throttle wide open and risk a crash.

 

[Waquoit]

This team still looks like it's coasting a bit to me - the sense or urgency isn't quite there and still feels a little street ball on offense at times.

Say no to drugs.

 

[Waquoit]

The team gets sloppy and lazy when they have a lead. If this isn't corrected soon it will lead to serious trouble.

Lazy? I have a NY resolution for you. Stop being a hater.

 

[tykurez]

I'd phrase it like this - when we go into our slow down game, we have usually lapped the field, and it's not worth the risk to keep the throttle wide open and risk a crash.

I'd usually agree with you ... but that hasn't been the case thus far. Fairfield came from 20 down at half to make it a game, and UCF clawed back in and ended up with a win. That's just two of the games.

I don't think this game was ever in jeopardy ... but what if they got it to single digits? That's usually around the time our guys tighten up and the game gets within a possession or two.

I'm all for using the clock to your advantage, but if that's the route to take, then they need to get better at executing it.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

How about this: It just wasn't very enjoyable to watch when the 70-47 lead started shrinking during repeated possessions that alternately displayed what appeared as ill-considered offense and dispassionate defense. It had been fun prior to that, and I would like to have seen more. Is it wrong to want to enjoy watching the team play well?

 

[Walker11]

Its a stupid strategy and I don't see why the OP would get any hate whatsoever. I also think its pretty dumb to say that the sluggish offense was the product of laziness.

Its pretty obvious that our team is instructed to slow it down and start running offense very late in the shot clock once the lead has gotten around 10 with around 6-8 minutes left. This happens very regularly and it is very frustrating to watch. It results in an incredibly disjointed offense and while it does certainly kill clock, I think it increases the likelihood of allowing a team back in the game.

I don't really care about the margin of victory and I was very pleased with the performance today, I just wish the team wouldn't try to ice the game away so early.

 

[huskyharry]

I do think that learning how to milk the clock is one of the teaching goals of the coaching staff. 8 minutes to go is clearly too soon but I think our players have the potential to be very good at it with more practice. SN, RB and JL all have the potential to exploit half court pressure which can either lead to an open short jumper for them or a dunk for AD...clearly there is till some work left to do but learning how to play this way effectively could be deadly to opponents in Feb and March


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[Hans Sprungfeld]

I do think that learning how to milk the clock is one of the teaching goals of the coaching staff. 8 minutes to go is clearly too soon but I think our players have the potential to be very good at it with more practice. SN, RB and JL all have the potential to exploit half court pressure which can either lead to an open short jumper for them or a dunk for AD...clearly there is till some work left to do but learning how to play this way effectively could be deadly to opponents in Feb and March

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So long as its accompanied by lockdown defense, I have no problem with what I call 'ambient offense,' but when the other team is scoring, not so good.

 

[DogMania]

I never like the prevent offense, especially with so much time left on the clock. I'm sounding like a broken record. but I'd like to see them at least run their sets so that they maintain their flow and take better shots compared to forcing shots as the clock winds down to 0.

Teams know they're not going to shoot it till late in the clock and aren't worried about leaving some players open. There was one set where boatright got the ball and could have taken a wide open 3 but he passed it up to run more clock. It seemed after a string of empty trips up the floor, Blaney must have told them to run their stuff and take what SJU gave them. They stretched out the lead from that point.