Tyler Polley Polley is an amazing weapon for us | The Boneyard

Tyler Polley Polley is an amazing weapon for us

nelsonmuntz

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Polley is an amazing weapon for us. I think his 39% 3 ponit shooting understates how accurate and effective he has been from the field. Looking at the game log, with 2 exceptions, St. Johns and Creighton, he has been shooting over 50% since he has been playing over 50% of the game. Basically, if our guards can get Polley his shots, he will hit over half of them. Polley's shot is a catch and shoot 3. He doesn't need to be wide open because he is so tall that he can shoot right over guards. His eFG% (.542), ORtg (129.5) and OBPM (5.1) are all really impressive. A shooter like Polley is not just a scorer, but he is such a game-changing threat on offense that he creates open shots and driving lanes for other players simply by making it impossible for his defender to help out anywhere else.

Creighton and St. Johns have a lot of 6'5"+ players, and they can challenge those outside shots if they are willing to commit a tall defender to Polley 23 feet from the hoop. I have no doubt in my mind that we win the first Creighton game if Polley was there to play 25 minutes and take 8 3's. After Bouknight, the rest of the team was 2 for 18 from 3 in that game. If UConn can keep running Polley off screens to get him just a little space, he can be deadly. I don't think Polley is nearly as good shooting off the dribble. His defense is not great, but he is such an offensive weapon that the net of him being on the court makes it worth it to play him more. He is coming off a serious knee injury, so it is not surprising to see a dip in his lateral quickness.

He has come back very strong from that knee injury, which could have gone either way for a borderline starter on a bubble team that gets hurt late in his junior year. A lot of players would have packed it in, and it says a lot about Polley's character that he came back as quickly and as strongly as he did. He is an easy guy to root for.
 

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He is such an offensive weapon when he hits his shots and under limited situations. If he isn’t scoring the ball he isn’t rebounding nor is he defending effectively. I like the young man and have had several small conversations with him. Very likable and I have wished him the best and really wanted him to succeed. He has had a half a dozen good games in his career so far. He needs to dig down deep and find that fire he needs to have to compete in all phases the team needs from him IF he wants meaningful minutes. I’m not sure if he will adjust well being someone who spells time for a starter or to see if he can give a possible scoring punch off the bench for limited minutes. I feel DH has given him equitable time yet with Bouk and Andre returning will the minutes be there? He has shown heart in his battle with injuries and has shown to be a young man of high character and as Nelson said he is easy to root for. I just don’t see as much chance for him to be the real go to guy or see enough minutes to work out an off shooting night. He will have 6’5” plus guys in his face every game- he is not a hard mark to plan on stopping. I hope he hits 80% of his shots and is 1st team NBE I really do.
 
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Would be great to see Polley over the next 15 games or so- pump fake and be aggressive in penetrating the lane- this would create more opportunities for him to get good 3 point looks & force the defense to be more cognizant in respecting his driving abilities & not just crowd him each time he touches the ball on the perimeter. Right now it’s 3 or nothing- if he doesn’t have a shot he takes a side dribble and passes the ball. I believe if this were to happened it would make the Huskies & Polley much more dangerous offensively as a whole.
 

87Xfer

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Very extensive analysis. If he's not hitting shots, the fewer minutes he gets, the better our chances of winning.

Love the guy, but if he's not hitting, there are better roster minutes to be utilized. If he's cold, he can always come back later and possibly have a hot hand. But having him unproductive and sucking up floor time isn't additive.
 
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nelsonmuntz

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Very extensive analysis. If he's not hitting shots, the fewer minutes he gets, the better our chances of winning.

Love the guy, but if he's not hitting, there are better roster minutes to be utilized. If he's cold, he can always come back later and possibly have a hot hand. But having him unproductive and sucking up floor time isn't additive.

Who would you rather have his minutes?
 

nelsonmuntz

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He is such an offensive weapon when he hits his shots and under limited situations. If he isn’t scoring the ball he isn’t rebounding nor is he defending effectively. I like the young man and have had several small conversations with him. Very likable and I have wished him the best and really wanted him to succeed. He has had a half a dozen good games in his career so far. He needs to dig down deep and find that fire he needs to have to compete in all phases the team needs from him IF he wants meaningful minutes. I’m not sure if he will adjust well being someone who spells time for a starter or to see if he can give a possible scoring punch off the bench for limited minutes. I feel DH has given him equitable time yet with Bouk and Andre returning will the minutes be there? He has shown heart in his battle with injuries and has shown to be a young man of high character and as Nelson said he is easy to root for. I just don’t see as much chance for him to be the real go to guy or see enough minutes to work out an off shooting night. He will have 6’5” plus guys in his face every game- he is not a hard mark to plan on stopping. I hope he hits 80% of his shots and is 1st team NBE I really do.

Do you realize how much a 6'5 defender has to sell out to cover a 6'9 shooter on the perimeter? A defender that is giving up 4 inches can't back more than a couple of feet off Polley because there is no way to close out. It's not like defending some 6'3 guard, where a defender can back 10-12 feet off, and close out easily.

A 6'9 player that can shoot changes the opposing defense even when he doesn't have the ball.
 
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When someone is not hitting their shots it's bad for the Huskies. Heck, it's bad for any team.

That said. The guy is a mismatch when he comes out of the locker room. I think that we should have a couple a plays where we post-up Polley. Draw the big men away from the basket and move him in close with a smaller defender. Getting him some easier twos would add a little more to our (his) offense.
 
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I don't think many of us are doubting his ability to score but his defense and rebounding will dictate how much he plays.
 

CTMike

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Everything Nelson goes all in on turns to absolute sh... I like Polley Polley, I hope he survives this latest NelsonMush.
 
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There's no one else! Adams doesn't hit shots or free throws (look at his percentages) and Gaff rarely shoots. However, he does hit a key 3 or two. He also needs to be more assertive and drive more. He is good at picking up the foul and is a great FT shooter.

Back to Polley. Even if he's cold, he draws more aggressive defense on the perimeter, opening up more space on the floor elsewhere. So, in that respect, he could have a positive influence on the floor. However, will they capitalize on that? I think we can all agree individuals and the team aspect of the game need work. No one will be hot every game, either. We need more guys to blossom! (Gaff) And need more guys! (Bouk, Dre, Akok)
 
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Polley's shot is a catch and shoot 3. He doesn't need to be wide open because he is so tall that he can shoot right over guards.
If this were true, it would be great. But in those Creighton and St. Johns games he was mostly guarded by smaller players and he was unable to get open or shoot over them successfully. He really does need to be wide open and stationary (or stepping in on the break).

Exception being the Marquette game when he was spewing fire and made 2 YOLO crossover dribble pull-up 3s (the same shots he missed by 3 feet in the 2 games he struggled).
 

nelsonmuntz

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Everything Nelson goes all in on turns to absolute sh... I like Polley Polley, I hope he survives this latest NelsonMush.

The cyber stalker bit is getting old. Do you have any other schtick or is this it?
 

nelsonmuntz

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If this were true, it would be great. But in those Creighton and St. Johns games he was mostly guarded by smaller players and he was unable to get open or shoot over them successfully. He really does need to be wide open and stationary (or stepping in on the break).

Exception being the Marquette game when he was spewing fire and made 2 YOLO crossover dribble pull-up 3s (the same shots he missed by 3 feet in the 2 games he struggled).

Sure. St. Johns and Creighton were covering our small players with bigs and Polley with short guards. That is what happened.
 

nelsonmuntz

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I don't think many of us are doubting his ability to score but his defense and rebounding will dictate how much he plays.

Carlton and and Sanogo would be averaging 25+ minutes a game if we cared about defense and rebounding. Polley is the worst defensive player on the team (of those getting meaningful playing time) based on advanced stats. The second worst is Adams, and Adams plays starters minutes.
 
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Sure. St. Johns and Creighton were covering our small players with bigs and Polley with short guards. That is what happened.
Huh? You know how we were all mad that they played small lineups and we didn't react? They guarded everyone but our center with small players. Creighton has played 98% of their minutes with someone 6'6" or shorter at the 4 (and usually 6'5").
 

nelsonmuntz

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Huh? You know how we were all mad that they played small lineups and we didn't react? They guarded everyone but our center with small players. Creighton has played 98% of their minutes with someone 6'6" or shorter at the 4 (and usually 6'5").

creighton had 2 players under 6’5 playing a total of 47 minutes, but sure, they played a lot of small lineups.
 
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creighton had 2 players under 6’5 playing a total of 47 minutes, but sure, they played a lot of small lineups.
I'm sorry if I misunderstood your post and you literally meant that the 6'8" guy can only shoot well over people 6'4" and less and not well over 6'5" people.

Again, Creighton gave 77% of its total available minutes in that game to guys at 6'5" or shorter, and 20 of the 23% remaining were given to centers. That is universally considered a small lineup. 3% of the minutes were to guys 6'6" or taller that were not playing the 5.

For context, we've given more than 15x those same minutes out. 51% of our total non-center minutes over the last 5 games have been to guys 6'6" or taller.
 
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Doctor Hoop

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Do you realize how much a 6'5 defender has to sell out to cover a 6'9 shooter on the perimeter? A defender that is giving up 4 inches can't back more than a couple of feet off Polley because there is no way to close out. It's not like defending some 6'3 guard, where a defender can back 10-12 feet off, and close out easily.

A 6'9 player that can shoot changes the opposing defense even when he doesn't have the ball.
Polley can spread the floor because the D has to respect his 3's. That opens up driving lanes, which can scramble the D.

Unfortunately, the only guy to this point who can exploit that consistently is Bouknight, and to a lesser extent Martin. And one of those is out.

As an aside, the high pick & roll offense needs to be run to Polley's side of the floor when he's on the court, so that the gap develops. Or, if they close the gap, Polley has a 3 on the kick out.
 
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Polley needs to run around to get free like Ray and Rip used to do. That standing still waiting for the ball and hoping the defender has given him enough space is not working out. He needs to find a way to get free. Rashad Anderson couldn't create his own shot yet found ways to get his shot off
 

nelsonmuntz

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They hit shots from time to time, but when they're not hitting shots they're able to contribute in other ways. Polley doesn't contribute much if he's not hitting shots.

I do not remember hating on a UConn player before, but Adams is bad on both ends of the floor, can't shoot, and doesn't always hustle. So I will disagree that he contributes in other ways.
 
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Carlton and and Sanogo would be averaging 25+ minutes a game if we cared about defense and rebounding. Polley is the worst defensive player on the team (of those getting meaningful playing time) based on advanced stats. The second worst is Adams, and Adams plays starters minutes.

Carlton and Sonogo play entirely different positions from Polly and they'd be worse guarding the stretch 4's and 3's.

You are right with Adams though. I honestly don't know the logic behind that one. I think it's not what he brings to the table but more of the fact that since Bouk went down, we need someone to eat minutes.
 

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