2020-21 Game Log for Tyler Polley
www.sports-reference.com
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.