UConn -2.5 v Nova

[Bstop55]

I mean hey that’s pretty much a pro bettor’s goal, 60%

We’ve gotta be one of the better teams in the country vs the spread I would imagine.

 

[HeGotGame]

We’ve gotta be one of the better teams in the country vs the spread I would imagine.

Yes, there is only like 15 teams better than us.

 

[husky429]

Bro, you claimed this game decides what we can do in the post season and you’re calling other people dramatic.

I'm not sure you understand what a "litmus test" is. Go off though, I'm enjoying the show

 

[August_West]

Bro, you claimed this game decides what we can do in the post season and you’re calling other people dramatic.

He didn’t say decides. Learn to read.

We can lose and go on a run we’ve done it before. But anyone in their right mind ( obviously not you) who watches college basketball feels a lot better with this type of win In a hostile environment as prep for what we really want to accomplish. It’s a thing for the players too. Confidence counts for a lot. When we were rolling early season we played with a lot of swagger and a pretty big chip on our shoulder. We got punched in the mouth by a couple good teams at the beginning of year ( X and pc) and we totally lost it . Losing that chip and swagger enabled us to get rolled by St. John’s at home and a mediocre seton hall team on the road.

Which would you rather head to the BET with? taking down nova on the road? or getting punched in the mouth heading into the gauntlet of the BET wondering if we are going to fold again?

This is definitely a litmus test.

 

[HeGotGame]

He didn’t say decides. Learn to read.

We can lose and go on a run we’ve done it before. But anyone in their right mind ( obviously not you) who watches college basketball feels a lot better with this type of win In a hostile environment as prep for what we really want to accomplish. It’s a thing for the players too. Confidence counts for a lot. When we were rolling early season we played with a lot of swagger and a pretty big chip on our shoulder. We got punched in the mouth by a couple good teams at the beginning of year ( X and pc) and we totally lost it . Losing that chip and swagger enabled us to get rolled by St. John’s at home and a mediocre seton hall team on the road.

Which would you rather head to the BET with? taking down nova on the road? or getting punched in the mouth heading into the gauntlet of the BET wondering if we are going to fold again?

This is definitely a litmus test.

You posted you were legitimately worried about making the tournament this year. This was in January. But yea, tell me more about people being in their right mind.

I could remind you about the final regular season games of 2011 and 2014. I could not limit it to Uconn and do the same for other teams who have won titles or gone to final fours, but you claim to watch college basketball so you know. q

The players are a lot tougher than the posters on this board, they are still not crying in their cheerios about the St. John’s game (like you) and losing a road game at Nova isn’t going to derail them or the season.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Why is it so hard just to admit that a win tomorrow would show something they haven’t shown yet this year? It doesn’t mean you hate the team or the players (there are plenty of posters who do that already).

 

[HeGotGame]

Why is it so hard just to admit that a win tomorrow would show something they haven’t shown yet this year? It doesn’t mean you hate the team or the players (there are plenty of posters who do that already).

I understand what it shows. But win or lose my opinion of what this team can do the rest of the way will not change. I know how good it’s good is, I know it’s capable of winning the BET and NCAAT, I don’t need another game or a road win at Nova to tell me that.

If the BET and NCAAT was like the American East and held at campus sites sure I’d feel a tick better if they won, but they are not. And we have shown all we had to on a neutral court this year.

 

[CTBasketball]

I understand what it shows. But win or lose my opinion of what this team can do the rest of the way will not change. I know how good it’s good is, I know it’s capable of winning the BET and NCAAT, I don’t need another game or a road win at Nova to tell me that.

If the BET and NCAAT was like the American East and held at campus sites sure I’d feel a tick better if they won, but they are not. And we have shown all we had to on a neutral court this year.

How would you feel if this losing this game was the difference between being the last 3 seed in the East, and being a 4 seed in the Midwest where we draw a very good 13 seed?

 

[jibsey]

How would you feel if this losing this game was the difference between being the last 3 seed in the East, and being a 4 seed in the Midwest where we draw a very good 13 seed?

If we are the kind of team we hope we are we need to be able to step up and beat anyone. Can’t be afraid of a 13 seed. No matter where you are placed at some point you have to beat quality sooner or later. Nova at full strength at home tonight would be like playing in a Sweet Sixteen game regardless of their previous record for degree of difficulty. Do I need a win tonight to give me confidence in our prospects? No, but it need to be a close game at least.

 

[CTBasketball]

If we are the kind of team we hope we are we need to be able to step up and beat anyone. Can’t be afraid of a 13 seed. No matter where you are placed at some point you have to beat quality sooner or later. Nova at full strength at home tonight would be like playing in a Sweet Sixteen game regardless of their previous record for degree of difficulty. Do I need a win tonight to give me confidence in our prospects? No, but it need to be a close game at least.

So we need to step up and beat anyone, but don’t need to win today.

 

[Tenspro2002]

If we are the kind of team we hope we are we need to be able to step up and beat anyone. Can’t be afraid of a 13 seed. No matter where you are placed at some point you have to beat quality sooner or later. Nova at full strength at home tonight would be like playing in a Sweet Sixteen game regardless of their previous record for degree of difficulty. Do I need a win tonight to give me confidence in our prospects? No, but it need to be a close game at least.

OK, would you rather have a Sweet 16 matchup against Houston or against Kansas State?

The difference between a 3 and 4 seed can be massive.

 

[Punkbo]

Winning is better than losing. Either way, we’re very good. We have many weapons and lots of depth. Other teams would kill to have our roster. We can beat anyone in the country on a neutral court. Let’s play the games. I’m pumped. Go Huskies!

 

[Giddyup5]

I understand what it shows. But win or lose my opinion of what this team can do the rest of the way will not change. I know how good it’s good is, I know it’s capable of winning the BET and NCAAT, I don’t need another game or a road win at Nova to tell me that.

If the BET and NCAAT was like the American East and held at campus sites sure I’d feel a tick better if they won, but they are not. And we have shown all we had to on a neutral court this year.

I love how Jackson has played recently. And a lot of credit to Jackson and Hurley for figuring it out.

But none of the teams abandoned him on defense quite like Creighton and Xavier did. I’m still concerned about really good coaches completely ignoring him and forcing him to beat us from the outside.

That’s why any comparisons to our out of conference neutral court wins are tough because no one defended us that way then.

A Nova and Creighton win would go a long way for validating our new offensive identity.

 

[husky429]

You posted you were legitimately worried about making the tournament this year. This was in January. But yea, tell me more about people being in their right mind.

I could remind you about the final regular season games of 2011 and 2014. I could not limit it to Uconn and do the same for other teams who have won titles or gone to final fours, but you claim to watch college basketball so you know. q

The players are a lot tougher than the posters on this board, they are still not crying in their cheerios about the St. John’s game (like you) and losing a road game at Nova isn’t going to derail them or the season.

Of all the people to go off on, @August_West is about the worst choice. Dude bleeds national flag blue.

 

[HeGotGame]

How would you feel if this losing this game was the difference between being the last 3 seed in the East, and being a 4 seed in the Midwest where we draw a very good 13 seed?

Did I say I want to lose? I want to win by 100.

My point is this game doesn’t change my opinion on how far this team can go. To your point it also doesn’t change if it’s a 3 or a 4.

Obviously the goal is to win out and maybe get a 2. But if we are a 2, 3, or 4 i still know what this team is capable of no matter what they do today.

 

[Waquoit]

This is definitely a litmus test.

Ehh, it's a game. Kemba's team lost their "litmus test" then won 11 straight.

 

[August_West]

Ehh, it's a game. Kemba's team lost their "litmus test" then won 11 straight.

 

[Rico444]

I love how Jackson has played recently. And a lot of credit to Jackson and Hurley for figuring it out.

But none of the teams abandoned him on defense quite like Creighton and Xavier did. I’m still concerned about really good coaches completely ignoring him and forcing him to beat us from the outside.

That’s why any comparisons to our out of conference neutral court wins are tough because no one defended us that way then.

A Nova and Creighton win would go a long way for validating our new offensive identity.

Hurley has changed how we use him on the offense, he's basically living on the baseline. Other teams have ignored him from time to time and he's made them pay by getting offensive boards, catching lobs from guards that are penetrating, and being available when other teams double Sanogo for an easy dump off and dunk. He's also been screening which either gets open looks for our shooters if his defender doesn't come up to the perimeter, or has opened up the paint if he does.

 

[navery12]

I love how Jackson has played recently. And a lot of credit to Jackson and Hurley for figuring it out.

But none of the teams abandoned him on defense quite like Creighton and Xavier did. I’m still concerned about really good coaches completely ignoring him and forcing him to beat us from the outside.

That’s why any comparisons to our out of conference neutral court wins are tough because no one defended us that way then.

A Nova and Creighton win would go a long way for validating our new offensive identity.

I know you love nothing more than to hate on Jackson, but why do you think teams aren't completely ignoring him? We've changed our offense, specifically the positioning of Jackson and Karaban, so that Jackson can't be ignored on offense. He's not hanging around the 3 point line anymore, he's cutting to the basket and getting himself in spots where he can make passes for wide open shots or gets to the basket for layups/dunks

 

[JB75]

Wow, I'm surprised. Not because the line is wrong, but because I think that's actually pretty appropriate.

We've usually gotten a lot more credit than we deserve, especially for games that should be close. Our first game was -14.5. Based on home/road, you'd have expected this to be like -7.5.

They're either dinging us for underperformance in this kind of spot (finally), or giving Nova a lot of credit for their recent play.

Yeah, for once I actually agree with the line regarding uconn - if we didn’t look so good the past two games it would’ve been nova -3 guaranteed

 

[Jay-Bone]

I love how Jackson has played recently.

I know you love nothing more than to hate on Jackson,

Hmmmmm........

 

[husky429]

I know you love nothing more than to hate on Jackson, but why do you think teams aren't completely ignoring him? We've changed our offense, specifically the positioning of Jackson and Karaban, so that Jackson can't be ignored on offense. He's not hanging around the 3 point line anymore, he's cutting to the basket and getting himself in spots where he can make passes for wide open shots or gets to the basket for layups/dunks

Spot on. Teams didn't magically start abandoning a successful defensive scheme... we changed our offense.

 

[August_West]

Spot on. Teams didn't magically start abandoning a successful defensive scheme... we changed our offense.

Rest assured coaches are cooking up a counter to that change. This is where Hurley will have to have the guys prepared with counters to that. In a timely fashion.

 

[ucp990411]

Rest assured coaches are cooking up a counter to that change. This is where Hurley will have to have the guys prepared with counters to that. In a timely fashion.

429 said on that chat that Karaban can’t make a layup off one foot and that whoever taught him how play basketball did a terrible job. I admit I have said some stupid things here or on the chat but really?

 

[Rico444]

Rest assured coaches are cooking up a counter to that change. This is where Hurley will have to have the guys prepared with counters to that. In a timely fashion.

The only counter they can run is to defend Jackson, which is what we want them to do. They can either defend him, and it opens the lane up for Newton, Hawk, and Karaban to drive the ball, or they can leave him alone, which opens up the lobs and layups for Jackson. I suppose a zone could be another option, but so few teams play zone nowadays that I wouldn't expect anyone to implement it only to try to stop us, and probably not this late in the year. Even if they do, Hawkins would be salivating at how easily he would get open 3s.