UConn - Florida post game thread

[nelsonmuntz]

A small cloud on the horizon was that Florida's defense was pretty effective in stretches against UConn, especially against our pick-and-roll. Future opponents looking at that game film may try to mimic that in-your-face man-to-man defense, and then making late commits on the help defense. One way to play that for UConn is to pick-and-pop instead of roll, and have a cutter on the weakside.

It will be interesting to see how the coaches adjust, because we are going to see a similar defense again.

 

[drayenob]

Some comments from Florida Coach and reporter.

Gators No Match for No. 5 Huskies - Florida Gators

Fifth-ranked and unbeaten UConn took control in the early minutes and never looked back on the way to handing the Gators a 75-54 defeat Wednesday night at th...

floridagators.com

When it was over the Huskies had a fifth straight victory over a high-major opponent, a 10th win in as many tries by double-digits and had handed the Gators their worst home loss since No. 8 Kentucky pounded Billy Donovan's third team 79-54 on Feb. 18, 1998. Nearly a quarter-century ago.

 

[Huskygrad88]

We never got a replay of the foul on the jump shot so I can't speak to that, but I didn't have a huge issue with the other calls. He has a tendency to bring the arms down instead of keeping them vertical and had a few fouls because he just wasn't quick enough to keep up with his man.

Agree. Actually thought this was a really well officiated game. They let the centers bang just the right amount, Every one of Karaban’s fouls seemed pretty obvious, and they had the Florida coach spitting mad at points.

 

[elmcityboy]

…. I can’t wait till we play in our throwback CONNECTICUT jerseys. Im smiling thinking about it

with how superstitious hurley is, i don't think we will see the alternates until we lose...

...so we may never see them, haha.

 

[elmcityboy]

When it was over the Huskies had a fifth straight victory over a high-major opponent, a 10th win in as many tries by double-digits and had handed the Gators their worst home loss since No. 8 Kentucky pounded Billy Donovan's third team 79-54 on Feb. 18, 1998. Nearly a quarter-century ago.

i saw a florida fan on reddit say that this uconn team was the best they had faced at home since the 2012 kentucky team with anthony davis.

 

[David 76]

We have an amazing and deep team.
Saw FL blow by our guards way too often.

 

[Chin Diesel]

When it was over the Huskies had a fifth straight victory over a high-major opponent, a 10th win in as many tries by double-digits and had handed the Gators their worst home loss since No. 8 Kentucky pounded Billy Donovan's third team 79-54 on Feb. 18, 1998. Nearly a quarter-century ago.

Dayum.

 

[Khal Drogo]

About to lose to Alabama

Good game for UConn fans to watch and good excuse not to get dragged to the mall with the Mrs for Xmas shopping

 

[BlueMAB]

He was the best player on the court. It wasn't all that close.

And, he got torched on defense a few times like @HuskyHawk said. Both things can be true.

 

[BPT2Storrs]

It’s still relatively early in the season. Dare I say that we might get better as the season progresses? Obviously a lot of comments here on Allenye, Newtown and Diarra and their contributions to date. What I will say is they are transfers and might still be in the process of adjusting. Yes you can make the case that Joey C is also a transfer but maybe it was just an easier transition for him? I can only imagine the ceiling if we can get more offense from those three transfers.

 

[Stinger92860]

We got less than nothing from Newton, Alleyne, and Diarra. Newton had 5 turnovers and Diarra 3. I bet it's the first time in NCAA history that a team gets out shot at the line 28-9 and wins by 20+

I was looking at Newtons stat line and it was fine until you get the turns. Last night he was able to bring the ball up but became hesitant after crossing mid-court. They need to get hom a screen or flash someone to the middle and pass the ball before the double comes. I expect to see this in the next game.

 

[Stinger92860]

Being able to run for stretches with Samson’s defense is going to be a great help.

The expectations on this board for Samson are high. His defense last year was atrocious.
If he is a true 3 and D we are a tough out. Until we see him on the floor delivering, I think we need to take a wait and see approach.

The game appeared too fast for Alex last night, but he did hit a three. When he is on the floor teams have to account for him on the offensive side. That provides the guards with some relief. However, we need better D and more minutes from him.

 

[Tyler2Rings]

Couple of my notes:

The amoeba-like offense. It looks like everyone is standing around, but a few seconds later you realize there is a double screen to get Hawkins a look. Maybe I do not have a good eye for basketball but these plays struck me as well-disguised.

Sanogo improving his positioning when getting the ball down low. Did anyone else notice the feed in the second half where he let the ball bounce an extra time to back down the opponent just a little more? High level stuff

 

[Stinger92860]

I thought the guy guarding Hawkins was very good. But maybe you consider him a wing?

I agree, but Hawk figured it out and got points. Best D and energy I have seen him bring.

 

[Kembacity]

Slight disparity in free throws……..

Refs were definitely trying to keep it close once we opened that lead up, but Florida was having none of it. Felt like the game was called entirely differently at each end, we got touch fouls and they could rough up drives to the hoop with few whistles

 

[Kembacity]

Their backup center scored over him and made the “too small” gesture.

Castleton drove right at him and scored over him.

There were at least 1-2 other plays where they scored over him. It didn’t matter.

He was great tonight. I’m not being critical, it’s okay to admit he got beat a few times. He was still a net positive by a wide margin.

You sure you’re not being critical?

 

[SoFla Steve]

After the win, we move up to #2 in the KenPom rankings. Now waiting for the NET to update.

 

[fatlucy]

I was looking at Newtons stat line and it was fine until you get the turns. Last night he was able to bring the ball up but became hesitant after crossing mid-court. They need to get hom a screen or flash someone to the middle and pass the ball before the double comes. I expect to see this in the next game.

There were a few times he had no one to pass the ball to. There were no cuts.

 

[GetTheFacts]

I went to the game, and was extremely impressed. I did not foresee Clingan outplaying Castleton, who is supposed to be one of the best players in the SEC, if not the best. Sanogo more than held his own against him too. Jackson does so many little things well, and his ball handling has improved significantly. I think he slots in the primary PG role if it isn't happening already. Newton, Diarra, Alleyne, and Karaban were all basically non-existent and we still won by 21 points. This team is so legit.

 

[HungryHu5ky]

Newton has to start attacking the basket with floaters & contact lay ups he looking to pass too much especially with clingan in too many forces lobs when he should be looking for his own as Joey Cal does .. love the adjustment Hawkins made to take mid range shots & not settle for 3s coming off the screens that will push his game to another level .. can wait for Samson to come back we could use his athleticism & length I like Karaban but these last 2 games showed his weakness against better athletes

 

[BlueMAB]

You sure you’re not being critical?

This place....I can't believe i have to do this, and yet i'm not surprised I have to do this....again.

Here's the post I was responding to.

They couldn't do anything near the basket when Clingan was in there.

I posted a few things they did near the basket when Clingan was in there.

Did they not happen?

I also said. "He was great", and "he was a net positive by a wide margin."

You sure you're not intentionally misrepresenting my post by ignoring the positive things I posted?

Some of you are insanely sensitive when it comes to honest evaluation.

 

[HuskyHawk]

And, he got torched on defense a few times like @HuskyHawk said. Both things can be true.

It's funny how I have been called out as a bit of a fanboy of Akok and then Johnson. @superjohn has a man-crush on Clingan like I've rarely seen. He did have a good game, no doubt.

 

[superjohn]

It's funny how I have been called out as a bit of a fanboy of Akok and then Johnson. @superjohn has a man-crush on Clingan like I've rarely seen. He did have a good game, no doubt.

You've talked about Samson like he's Chris Bosh for a year straight. We all hope he's great but he's proven nothing in UConn games. Clingan has been a beast since he stepped on the court and is probably putting up some of the best per 40 #'s in the country. Talking a lot about someone who is dominating makes sense, what you've been doing for the past year with Samson doesn't make sense.

 

[dennismenace]

Well offensively we played like our C/C- game and we destroyed them.

Clingan was the best player on the court and player of the game and when he wasn't out there Sanogo was the best player on the floor along with Hawk. Hawk is becoming very Rip and Ray like with his constant movement/sprinting off off screens.

Our defense is always great and defense travels. Florida was totally demoralized with about 6 minutes left.

All of this happened with our point guards playing horribly and getting nothing from Karaban and Alleyne on offense. The point guard play was unacceptable and Hurley is going to be on them.

I just don't see many losses on the schedule this year, it's getting harder to envision losses when we can play that poorly on the offensive end and still mop up on the road.

Point guard play has to be better and Alleyne has to start giving us something on offense for us to really show how great we are. I know Hurley is all about defense but Joey gives us so much more than the other guys on offense. He was a gigantic pickup.

Great post and spot on. Alleyne is a head scratcher. He is a proven player and high % shooter.
I think Hurley needs some patience with some of these guys. Our other PG's looked like they were physically outmatched and so did Karaban at times. Same thing against Oklahoma State. Looked like Fla picked up on that and used the same strategy. Alleyne might remedy that being more muscular against some of the more physical teams. Love watching Joey C come in and fly around and bring the offensive spark with some great shooting. Big East will bring plenty of rock fights and we will need to bring some muscle in from time to time. In addition to Alleyne I still would like to see some minutes by Springs. Not a lot; just a little bit of enforcement for some teams. I don't agree with the rigid old school short rotation because our strength comes from our depth and commitment to team ball. Love seeing the unselfishness and our captains provide a work ethic and on floor leadership that is spectacular. They just keep coming at you in waves. As pointed out above Fla. totally demoralized in front of their fans at game end. LOL at DC doing the gator chomp at the end.

 

[Hoophound]

Newton is being way too unselfish. He needs to reclaim his mojo. Every team needs a lead guard and Newton has to be ours. If he starts playing the way he’s capable of, we’ll be nearly impossible to beat.

 

[dennismenace]

N

No tech on uf coach early was a very clear sign of what the night would bring.

LOL That outburst was a little scary; he looked like a psycho in a horror movie and I was wondering where that was going to end.

 

[ctchamps]

Crazy how much the guards were turning it over tonight. That made it feel like we were playing like crap through a few stretches of the game.
Is alleyne a 10 minute per game guy now?

No! On rewatch I iso'd his defense. It was excellent. Also liked his two drives to the basket even though they weren't successful i liked that he went to the hoop strong. He'll be an important cog in the team effort and victories. Just needs to find his confidence making threes.

 

[ctchamps]

It’s still relatively early in the season. Dare I say that we might get better as the season progresses? Obviously a lot of comments here on Allenye, Newtown and Diarra and their contributions to date. What I will say is they are transfers and might still be in the process of adjusting. Yes you can make the case that Joey C is also a transfer but maybe it was just an easier transition for him? I can only imagine the ceiling if we can get more offense from those three transfers.

My feeling is that the coaches are now trying to get Newton and Diarra away form iso scoring and more into drive and assist or 4 out hitting the curl player. It's a learning curve. That's why the long leash in spite of the turnovers.

Defense on the other hand has no leash and the timeout and quick hook for Diarra showed that.

Alleyne played stellar defense and set up some great screens on offense. I didn't notice it in live game action because my eyes focused on the other players but focused on him during replay watching. He's going to win us some games sooner or later similar to Polley on offense but unlike Polley he'll be a significant contributor on defense in most games.

 

[karstenkibbe]

It's funny how I have been called out as a bit of a fanboy of Akok and then Johnson. @superjohn has a man-crush on Clingan like I've rarely seen. He did have a good game, no doubt.

You had downright man-love for Akok and man-hate for Polley!

 

[ctchamps]

Newton has to start attacking the basket with floaters & contact lay ups he looking to pass too much especially with clingan in too many forces lobs when he should be looking for his own as Joey Cal does .. love the adjustment Hawkins made to take mid range shots & not settle for 3s coming off the screens that will push his game to another level .. can wait for Samson to come back we could use his athleticism & length I like Karaban but these last 2 games showed his weakness against better athletes

To belabor the point I've already been making in this thread I believe the coaches are trying to transform Newton's game away from a scoring guard to a passing guard.

He's had to be the primary scorer on offensively challenged teams. The coaches want to expand his tool belt. The triple double was fools gold. The coaches and team were working on other aspects of of the teams play so Newton continued doing what he did best. Now they are working on driving and getting assists to our bigs.

You see it with Hawkins, Andre, Diarra and Joey C as well. Joey is the player who has demonstrated he's best at it currently. But the others will be there. I've noticed a lot of fans in this forum want Andre to drive to the basket. I think he's deliberately avoiding that to set an example for the other players working on this aspect of the game. Andre is a team first leader. Probably the first one since Rickey Moore who is less invested in his personal stats but does anything the coaches asks of him.

They could have pulled Newton or told him to revert to his style but they stuck with the game plan on national tv against an NCAA 8-9 seed. That's how good this team is. Most teams don't have that luxury to work out their kinks against above average opponents for the entire game.