UConn at Providence Thoughts

[mauconnfan]

I expect this to be a battle. Providence seems to always give us a hard time- especially under Ed Cooley. On paper, we're the better team and should win, but we'll see how it plays out. Of particular interest is how we respond from the loss to Xavier, and what we learned from it. For me, the first and foremost thing is our defense needs to be better here. Giving up 83 points won't win many games and is definitely not playing to our identity and strengths. For me, beating those teams (Providence and Creighton, for example) that seem to "have our number", will be a true measure of progress for this team.

Agree this is a dog fight don’t care if we’re better on paper. They are playing well and always look at this one and circle it, player’s coaches and fans. Target is on our backs at the Dunk or whatever it is now.

 

[UCLJ0211]

I could see Clingan having a big game vs. PC. Need to get him some more minutes.

 

[fatlucy]

First and foremost we need to give our bench many more minutes.

 

[Scrutineer]

Carter and Hopkins will be both be handfuls for our defense and we seem to have problems with guys like Croswell. Bynum and Moore are veterans that seem to play better than their stats.

As a team they rebound a fraction better and shoot about 5 more FT's per game (at almost the same % as us) so this game could be a problem if we don't stop the trend we're on. Must dominate inside and on the boards and stop the penetration by the guards
and Hopkins.

 

[RichCTBB]

When Hurley gets out coached it’s always painfully obvious. Cooley has had his number and with the book out on how to defend us (double up AS)….I think this is more of a test for the coaching staff than the personnel on the court. We got away from our identity against Xavier. Our defense was soft, AS had an effort issue, and Hurley forgot about our depth. Also….as others have said, we need to go to the rim with purpose. I don’t completely blame Newton for getting caught up under the basket with nowhere to go. I blame the coaching staff for not having integrated the drive and kick into the offensive game plan.

 

[MrSec238]

Adama on Croswell or Moore
Andre may have to step up and take Hopkins and hope Jordan can hang with Carter.

This should be a good game for Newton to drive and get to the line. Its also a great matchup for Joey. Their two starting guards stink defensively.

They will struggle if we go full court.

That all being said its a very tough, hostile environment. We are def better but gonna be a battle.

 

[freshler40]

When Hurley gets out coached it’s always painfully obvious. Cooley has had his number and with the book out on how to defend us (double up AS)….I think this is more of a test for the coaching staff than the personnel on the court. We got away from our identity against Xavier. Our defense was soft, AS had an effort issue, and Hurley forgot about our depth. Also….as others have said, we need to go to the rim with purpose. I don’t completely blame Newton for getting caught up under the basket with nowhere to go. I blame the coaching staff for not having integrated the drive and kick into the offensive game plan.

What about the drive and shoot option! We have serious offensive rebounders, this gives us a few more shots per game. We have too many guards that drive and pass.......... Newton has gotten away from his most productive mode.

 

[PChoops]

Adama on Croswell or Moore
Andre may have to step up and take Hopkins and hope Jordan can hang with Carter.

This should be a good game for Newton to drive and get to the line. Its also a great matchup for Joey. Their two starting guards stink defensively.

They will struggle if we go full court.

That all being said its a very tough, hostile environment. We are def better but gonna be a battle.

I agree Locke is a liability defensively, but Breed is not and is out on the court during crunch time and will hit the 3 ball.

 

[MrSec238]

I agree Locke is a liability defensively, but Breed is not and is out on the court during crunch time and will hit the 3 ball.

Yeah Bynum is too. Im talking about your starters.

I like Breeds game but I think Bynum and Lockes defensive deficiencies give our guards a lot of advantages. Whereas I trust Andre to take away the comfort of one of Carter or Hopkins but obv not both. Thats where we need to focus defensively.

The key is PC turning it over. We need to force that. If we dont then its a tight game.

 

[3RingsCT]

This game isn’t going to be easy. They score 80 per game and shoot 34% from 3 and 47% overall.

We need a strong defensive effort, and Hurley needs to find the right combination of players to make that happen. Can’t have a defensive lapse in the paint again.

I love being a deep team, but having a deep team without a consistent go-to guy leads to numerous rotations and different personnel on the floor throughout the game. That’s why we see such swings during our games.

In a crazy environment, coming off a loss, and a hot Providence team, this will be tough. Hurley needs to be sharp and stay cool on this one.

 

[Mister P]

Great. Danny trying to force something always ends well.

Dan Hurley has every reason to rub this one in on Cooley because of the previous reports of Cooley’s shenanigans with CFJ.
IF we get back to clicking like we did with our P6 early season wins I expect him and hope he does make Cooley and PC pay for it.

 

[August_West]

Yeah. As astute as I'm sure your analysis of them may be, I'm still not concerned.

You’re going all in for this trip to the dunk I see.

 

[CTBasketball]

If Sanogo gets torched by Ed Croswell I’ll freak out.

 

[gtcam]

Conference games are always tough no matter what conference you are playing in.
They involve rivalry, strategy and good coaching
The NBE has some really good coaches who have been around and know how to create mismatches and take advantage of weaknesses
Let's hope that Dan Hurley is on top of his game during these conference games.

 

[gtcam]

When Hurley gets out coached it’s always painfully obvious. Cooley has had his number and with the book out on how to defend us (double up AS)….I think this is more of a test for the coaching staff than the personnel on the court. We got away from our identity against Xavier. Our defense was soft, AS had an effort issue, and Hurley forgot about our depth. Also….as others have said, we need to go to the rim with purpose. I don’t completely blame Newton for getting caught up under the basket with nowhere to go. I blame the coaching staff for not having integrated the drive and kick into the offensive game plan.

Couldn't agree with this more

 

[prankster]

I think we are clearly the better team. But we also have had some sort of Big East funk.

Butler (bad) - only up 4 with 9 minutes left
Georgetown (abysmal) - down 2 with 9 minutes left
Villanova (mid) - up 2 with 3 minutes left
Xavier (good) - lost by 10

We aren't playing like a 1 seed right now and Providence is clearly an above average team at least. So really I don't know what to expect.

Oh, don't care about a thing. That black hole of mojo suck, Deepster, says there is nothing to worry about.

 

[Ricker]

There is no way Providence can deal with Clingan if it occurs to the staff to play him. We win going away if we play to our advantages. Play full court and keep our bigs in the paint.

 

[Ratso]

it’s always rough playing in the old dunkin’ donuts arena. a legendary shitshow

 

[Huskyforlife]

We should play our game. If we can’t beat them playing our game, something is wrong.

 

[superjohn]

There is no way Providence can deal with Clingan if it occurs to the staff to play him. We win going away if we play to our advantages. Play full court and keep our bigs in the paint.

Amen, Providence is going to drive. We don't get any rim protections from Adama and Karaban. Need Clingan's rim protection and board work on both ends.

 

[superjohn]

it’s always rough playing in the old dunkin’ donuts arena. a legendary shitshow

It is but the students are away and there should be a lot of UConn fans in the building.

 

[RichCTBB]

We should play our game. If we can’t beat them playing our game, something is wrong.

That’s part of the problem. We’ve gotten away from our game and haven’t corrected. Just look at the free throw attempts.

 

[Huskyforlife]

That’s part of the problem. We’ve gotten away from our game and haven’t corrected. Just look at the free throw attempts.

Our offense has been fine, guys gotta lock in on D.

 

[CTBasketball]

Our offense has been fine, guys gotta lock in on D.

I hope we don’t take 37 three pointers again.

 

[jdb50]

Cooley has a 9-2 record against Hurley. That will take a good long run to turn around. And next up is the Undefeated Greg McDermott. This is a big week for our coach. Since we have started Big East play the team is struggling a bit. The fact we had a deficit to Georgetown in the second half in our gym and they are 0 for their last 24 Big East games is a red flag. The staff better have some rotations that puts Providence at a disadvantage. Sanogo should as well as the entire team be practicing not biting on upfakes every day. This game will tell us a lot about where the season is going.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

You’re going all in for this trip to the dunk I see.

Post/avatar vendetta-distraction mojo trolling mashup.

Thinks he's playing the long game; maybe he is. Surely he'll claim it. Unless he doesn't care. Stay tuned...

 

[willie99]

Another very tough road game. Another physical battle

It's doable, it won't be easy

 

[KingAG]

I hope we don’t take 37 three pointers again.

Most of those 3’s were open looks. It’s what a packline defense forces. We needed to make them

 

[Huskyforlife]

I hope we don’t take 37 three pointers again.

30 3s is fine with this team. We have great shooters. Andres 4 heaves at the end inflated the number a bit. Nobody was complaining about this until we lost.

 

[Deepster]

You’re going all in for this trip to the dunk I see.

So we're talking about a potential 1 seed or a final 4 or a natty.....but we're going to get whipped up for a road game at PC? Sure. They'll play hard. Cooley is a nice coach. But I expect to win easily. Is that wrong?