Today was the perfect example...

[Huskybass]

The funny thing is that Napier's post game comments basically say the same thing that I stated. Perhaps Prezidint can call him an as well.

 

[magical2]

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.

I can't say with certainty what the reason was. Your point thought is very valid! When do you work on parts of your game that you need to work on? Working on things in practice is great,but the goal is to use aspects of your game in the real game!!! Do you wait to try things only when there 10 seconds left in a 1 point game that you have not used before in real game time

 

[Waquoit]

This is so not a big deal. SJU cut the lead mainly because one young player for UConn made 3 bad decisions in a row that resulted in buckets the other way. They quickly steadied the ship. I call this "Mad Dog" analysis. The team played well, won easy but some just gotta rag. It's boring.

 

[ctchamps]

There are three points of view going on here, the fans, the players and the coaches. From the fans and players point of view the last 8 minutes were torturous. But the coaches wanted to observe/develop something. So the last eight minutes the coaches had the stall offense.

They are trying to see if any of the three, JL, RB or SN can play the role Kemba did last season if the game is on the line. So they had all three take turns at that role for the last eight minutes.

This is the difference between JC and staff and other coaches in college bb. They are not just about the win or beauty contests, they are also about development. I'll take the ugly last eight minutes knowing it will give the coaches and players something to work on in practice and increase the odds of going far in the NCAA's.

 

[Tenspro2002]

But you don't develop your offense by wasting 25 seconds of the shot clock and watching a guy go 1-on-1 and forcing a bad shot.

You develop your offense by -- hold on a sec, this is complicated -- actually running your offense.

Our "strategy" down the stretch was at best a waste of time and at worst an absolute killer of offensive momentum heading into the next game.

 

[ctchamps]

But you don't develop your offense by wasting 25 seconds of the shot clock and watching a guy go 1-on-1 and forcing a bad shot.

You develop your offense by -- hold on a sec, this is complicated -- actually running your offense.

Our "strategy" down the stretch was at best a waste of time and at worst an absolute killer of offensive momentum heading into the next game.

There were a lot of games in that eleven game win streak last season that were won by this philosophy. I don't like watching this style any more than people in this thread, but this is JC's philosophy and he has three NC's. I have zero.

What the coaching staff may determine is that this years group can't be counted on like KW to dribble or pass on the perimeter for 25 seconds and then make a shot or get to the foul line like KW did last season. But it is my guess they are trying to decide that and are willing to sacrifice some minutes at the end of blow out games to determine this. At least that's my attempt to understand the rationale for their decision to slow things down with eight minutes to go when they were playing very efficiently on offense prior to that. If you have a better explanation why they chose to do this I'll be glad to read it.

 

[champs99and04]

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

He's right though. This team does get lazy and satisfied when they get a lead. I realize you can't win every game by twenty, but there is definitely a change in the way the team plays after a certain point. I'm not worried about it too much, because yesterday was a pretty easy win, but it is something to keep an eye on moving forward.