Trying to be optimistic

[HuskyBoi]

Wait. Only Akok came to play? Did you miss Josh Carlton?

Your bio or whatever has "making the board a little less insufferable" yet here we are with a post that made my eyes bleed. @UChusky916

 

[HuskyBoi]

I thought Carlton played great. We were asking him to show up for big games. Now he isn't doing enough? People are too hard on this guy. He is becoming the rock of our offense. Unfortunately our guards decided to take the night off.

hey 3rdbass. Great post. He played great. We were crying for a big for years now but now the Boneyard regime wants to nitpick every negative about the guy even though he's the go to guy on offense and is now up to 13 ppg and nearly 8 boards. But I appreciate your post because it is reasonable, something rare on the forum nowadays.

 

[superjohn]

That right there is reason enough to be optimistic. In the latter, Ollie years the fine line would have been between 6-3 and 3-6. 9-0 would have never been a consideration.

We need to stop comparing this team to Ollie's last few years. We were absolutely horrendous, we know we're nothing like that anymore. We are a good team that should be 9-0 but our seniors have bad decisioned us out of three wins. If it continues we will be a fanbase saying wait until next year instead of dancing. I happen to think we have the talent to go dancing.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

We are a good team that should be 9-0 but our seniors have bad decisioned us out of three wins.

This is an overstatement. No one showed up against St. Joes. Hurley did not have them ready to play, and he conceded that. And it's not like everyone but Vitale and Gilbert were lights out against Indiana. The kid that people were worried about keeping in Storrs more than one year a week ago didn't put a single point on the board. I get the frustration with Gilbert and (primarily, in my opinion) Vitale, but we're going a bit overboard.

 

[superjohn]

This is an overstatement. No one showed up against St. Joes. Hurley did not have them ready to play, and he conceded that. And it's not like everyone but Vitale and Gilbert were lights out against Indiana. The kid that people were worried about keeping in Storrs more than one year a week ago didn't put a single point on the board. I get the frustration with Gilbert and (primarily, in my opinion) Vitale, but we're going a bit overboard.

I don't think we're going overboard, we're having the wrong people take our shots. I don't care how many rebounds Vital gets us, it's ridiculous Vital plays the most minutes and takes the most shots while Bouknight plays half his minutes and takes half his shots. We simply won't have the type of season we could have with things staying the way they are, Hurley has to make changes. Bouknight, Carlton, Akok, and Polley need to take the bulk of our shots.

 

[Husky25]

We need to stop comparing this team to Ollie's last few years. We were absolutely horrendous, we know we're nothing like that anymore. We are a good team that should be 9-0 but our seniors have bad decisioned us out of three wins. If it continues we will be a fanbase saying wait until next year instead of dancing. I happen to think we have the talent to go dancing.

This is a case TO compare Hurley's teams with the results from the latter Ollie years.

Look at were UConn was. The glass-half-full view would be to recognize that it won't be like that under Hurley. For instance This year's team would not lose to Wagner and Northeastern or allow Monmouth or Columbia to take them to OT. Instead, (the stinker vs. St. Joes notwithstanding) there are wins and close losses over far more reputable programs.

I believe UConn has the talent to go to the NCAA Tournament this year, but I wouldn't be disappointed if they were to play at Madison Square Garden in late March either.

 

[HuskyHawk]

This is an overstatement. No one showed up against St. Joes. Hurley did not have them ready to play, and he conceded that. And it's not like everyone but Vitale and Gilbert were lights out against Indiana. The kid that people were worried about keeping in Storrs more than one year a week ago didn't put a single point on the board. I get the frustration with Gilbert and (primarily, in my opinion) Vitale, but we're going a bit overboard.

We are better than every team we've played except Xavier. We should be 8-1. We dominated IU for stretches and clearly should have won that game. We would beat St. Joe's 99 times out of 100. They happened to have an insane shooting day and couldn't miss on a day when we had the opposite. Still almost won. Against Xavier, I thought we had the opposite of the IU game, we played really well, good enough to upset a ranked, superior opponent, and fell just short. People here saying IU isn't good are wrong. We just have some very special players that other teams have trouble with. We sell our team short.

 

[Husky25]

We sell our team short.

The topic of this thread sells them short.

 

[superjohn]

We are better than every team we've played except Xavier. We should be 8-1. We dominated IU for stretches and clearly should have won that game. We would beat St. Joe's 99 times out of 100. They happened to have an insane shooting day and couldn't miss on a day when we had the opposite. Still almost won. Against Xavier, I thought we had the opposite of the IU game, we played really well, good enough to upset a ranked, superior opponent, and fell just short. People here saying IU isn't good are wrong. We just have some very special players that other teams have trouble with. We sell our team short.

We were better than Xavier, the senior guards gave that one away too.

 

[Waquoit]

Lone senior syndrome has wrecked a season before and that guy went to the NBA. There is still time to turn it around but I don't think the lone senior is willing. He just plain doesn't have the ability to make a decent last shot play on his own but giving up the rock never entered his head. The pathetic turnover was inevitable. The game before Hurley made a scene about taking out the subs and putting back in the starters, because the subs were "horrible". I would think a senior leader would want to set a good example. Instead, he bricks four bad shots in a row. These situations are why the coaches make the big bucks. Vital will not change, but the team has to if winning this year is really a thing.

 

[Ts5034]

We are better than every team we've played except Xavier. We should be 8-1. We dominated IU for stretches and clearly should have won that game. We would beat St. Joe's 99 times out of 100. They happened to have an insane shooting day and couldn't miss on a day when we had the opposite. Still almost won. Against Xavier, I thought we had the opposite of the IU game, we played really well, good enough to upset a ranked, superior opponent, and fell just short. People here saying IU isn't good are wrong. We just have some very special players that other teams have trouble with. We sell our team short.

I agree with what you are saying, but looking at everything objectively, we need to turn these 2-3 point losses into wins, and If we were that good right now, we would be 8-1 instead of 6-3. I guess what Im trying to say is that we are what our record says we are. I feel this season has a 50/50 shot of going one of two ways...1- we finally put it together and turn the corner like we did in 2008, or 2- we let these losses snowball, and this season looks more like 2010.

This season up to this point has reminded me very much of 2008 and 2010. We had talent, played teams tough, but just could not beat the good teams on the schedule early, only losing by a few points in games that went down to the wire. In 2008, they finally put it together and ended up a 4 seed in the tournament. 2010 was a different story because outside of those late February wins at Villanova and vs WVU, they never could get over that hump.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

We were better than Xavier, the senior guards gave that one away too.

Xavier was the better team. Again, we might have more talent on paper but on the court they were better. They're the only team this season that I think has been better than UConn. Should be 8-1.

 

[jibsey]

This ain't about Carlton. AG never got better maybe it was the many injuries ( I don't blame him) and Vital ( a fighter) is way too turnover prone and inconsistent. These 2 players will look like stars many times but in critical games then play like they just did. We've seen this show far too many times before.

 

[superjohn]

Xavier was the better team. Again, we might have more talent on paper but on the court they were better. They're the only team this season that I think has been better than UConn. Should be 8-1.

I can agree they are probably better on paper but we outplayed them despite our senior guards playing terribly. We had a 5 point lead with a little over a minute left and then Vital took a horrible shot, they hit a prayer three and then Gilbert once again thought he could drive and make a shot over the trees. Gilbert played totally out of control in the overtimes with help from CV. It's another game we found a way to lose led by the senior guards. In that one they were 4-25 shooting and had pretty much all our losing plays down the stretch.

 

[UofCT]

Excellent point, except that Indiana is not a west coast team, and, last I looked, Bloomington, IN is in the eastern time zone.

Yeah but still

 

[David 76]

Vital is a double-edged sword. Offensively he can get hot from 3. But his ball handling, decision making and shot selection are more-often-than-not poor. On the other hand, the guy plays hard on the defensive end, and wants every rebound. Hard to bench that guy. Now if Adams can be that guy ...

We need them to play. Just sit a player when they are out of control for a few possessions. I think we agree

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Not a lotta new ground being broken on this or any of the other similarly-themed threads.

Vital can't stop shooting = posters who harp on this can't stop harping.

I can't do anything about Vital or those he drives crazy.

 

[Madmannsucks]

Not a lotta new ground being broken on this or any of the other similarly-themed threads.

Vital can't stop shooting = posters who harp on this can't stop harping.

I can't do anything about Vital or those he drives crazy.

Hans..............Bubby
.

 

[freescooter]

Josh was not the problem. He made a number of aggressive baskets. This game was lost on lousy offensives performance by the veteran guards and on Hurley for not reading the riot act to them after two bad possessions in a row in the last 6 minutes of the first half, repeated toward the end of the game. Obviously Vital missed some big FT he doesn’t often miss, but that’s just one of those things that happens and had nothing to do with playing smart.

Our vaunted backcourt scored like 10 points. Carlton was the only reason we weren’t blown out of the building.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

What would Carlton’s rebound stats look like without tipping in all his own misses?

 

[ctchamps]

I don't think we're going overboard, we're having the wrong people take our shots. I don't care how many rebounds Vital gets us, it's ridiculous Vital plays the most minutes and takes the most shots while Bouknight plays half his minutes and takes half his shots. We simply won't have the type of season we could have with things staying the way they are, Hurley has to make changes. Bouknight, Carlton, Akok, and Polley need to take the bulk of our shots.

It’s an overstatement when verifiable evidence exists. Christian took eight shots in this game. His problem wasn’t excessive shooting. It was excessive turnovers.

If you want to talk about the season fine. But most people are discussing this game.

I went out on the limb about Bouknight. I still believe he will be one of our greatest players. But show me what Bouknight was doing in the Indiana game to back up your statement Hurley should have benched CV and played Bouknight in this game.

 

[ctchamps]

What would Carlton’s rebound stats look like without tipping in all his own misses?

Similar to AO if he didn’t miss his bunnies - less.

 

[uconnyankee]

I don't think we're going overboard, we're having the wrong people take our shots. I don't care how many rebounds Vital gets us, it's ridiculous Vital plays the most minutes and takes the most shots while Bouknight plays half his minutes and takes half his shots. We simply won't have the type of season we could have with things staying the way they are, Hurley has to make changes. Bouknight, Carlton, Akok, and Polley need to take the bulk of our shots.

I just don't understand how coaching and scouting talent like this doesn't get noticed more frequently.
This board has the makings of legends and it's only available here.

Hurley is paid millions each year and yet you give this stuff away for free. Hmmmmmmmmm....

Cash in on this coaching talent you have.

 

[superjohn]

It’s an overstatement when verifiable evidence exists. Christian took eight shots in this game. His problem wasn’t excessive shooting. It was excessive turnovers.

If you want to talk about the season fine. But most people are discussing this game.

I went out on the limb about Bouknight. I still believe he will be one of our greatest players. But show me what Bouknight was doing in the Indiana game to back up your statement Hurley should have benched CV and played Bouknight in this game.

I'm talking about how we can get better for the season. Vital being our #1 option will not work, it's never worked. As for the IU game he made two shots and they were both pretty terrible shots (a long forced three with a defender on him and a running banker across the lane he probably traveled on) but yes it was his decision making which was by far the worst part of his game. The 7 turnovers don't even tell the whole story.

I don't have to show what Bouknight was doing in this game for why I think he should have his minutes and offensive workload bumped up. He's our best offensive player and hasn't been given much of a chance to work through mistakes, he makes a couple and we don't tend to see much of him after. Vital is always given enough rope to hang himself and he almost always hangs himself in big games.

 

[superjohn]

I just don't understand how coaching and scouting talent like this doesn't get noticed more frequently.
This board has the makings of legends and it's only available here.

Hurley is paid millions each year and yet you give this stuff away for free. Hmmmmmmmmm....

Cash in on this coaching talent you have.

That really added a lot. Basketball message boards would be so interesting if we all pretended the coach was infallible and nobody commented on the games.