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Each year, I can never tell if it is by design, (i.e. coaches directive) or just bad decision making by the players, where when up by about 10 or more with around 10 minutes to go or less they begin to bring the ball up slowly, run a lot of clock and get off a bunch of really bad shots. In some cases they don't even get a shot off.
I'm all for using some clock, but I'd prefer that they bring the ball up quickly and attack the D early, getting a good shot off before the D is set, especially with teams that are falling back into a 2-3 or 3-2 zone. I understand at times you want the team to settle down and not risk losing the ball via steals from behind or poorly executed passes or quick ill advised shots. But there were some times where I thought UConn should have tried to attacked the basket early to get a good shot off, or pull it back out if the play wasn't there. (I think at one point Bazz either did it on his own or got this type of message from JC where he spotted AD sliding into the paint wide open before FSU set up their D but threw it behind him. Good idea IMO, just horrible execution. I think one of the FSU defenders quickly got his hand up, closing off the passing lane a tad, which caused the pass to go behind AD. Also AD expected more of an ally-oop pass, compared to an outside catch that would have required him to make a move toward the basket after catching and gathering the pass. Again, good idea, but bad execution.)
During one of the games earlier in the season JC was upset because of how slow they were bringing the ball up the court, though that was coming out of the half. IMO, he needs to get them into the habit of attacking the basket early and only slowing it up when he needs them to settle things down. I'm not saying they should take the first available shot, but to at least generate a half-dozen or more better shots than they're doing right now. Their half-court execution has not been good so far. The addition of Boatright will help, but more so due to his individual efforts compared to them running quick and solid sets, which has really been lacking this season.
IMO, converting some easy baskets early in the clock, which sometimes draw fouls as well, even though you might also give the ball back after missing a shot without using as much clock as you like, is better than using a full 35 and coming up empty for a bunch of consecutive trips, which seems to plague this team. The benefit of trying to attack early even if they have to pull it back out, prevents them from getting out of sync which happens to teams that back off the throttle. It does take some discipline and the coaches trust that the handlers will know when to try to make the play (drive, pass or kick-out) and when to kick it back and set-up the offense.
It's dumb basketball to take a string of quick bad shots that can lead to more scoring opportunities for the opposition and/or easy transition baskets if you over-commit. I'm not advocating that. You have to be smart and discipline in how you attack and not crash the paint with too many players that could lead to odd numbers going the other way if you don't convert. Note that I'm not talking about our 5 beating their 5 down the floor. It's attacking the paint or finding the open man before the D is set. There's a difference. What I'm advocating can create more good shots w/out taking too high a risk. In most instances if you don't convert you still have enough numbers to prevent easy transition baskets.
I think it is evident to most that UConn makes themselves easily guard-able when they pass the ball around at the top and then try to make a play as the shot clock goes under 10. In fact, I've complained before that they should begin to get into their attack at about the 12 to 15 second mark. I don't think there is much harm taking a good shot with 7 to 8 seconds on the clock giving you the option to make the extra pass or a quick reset if the play isn't there. The alternative is you have one chance at creating a good shot or having to take a shot that has little chance of going down. The addition to Boatright will certainly help since he is very good at breaking down his man. If the D tries to close out on him, he has Bazz and Lamb to pass to who can take advantage of the open space created by the double team. Note the roles can be reversed with Bazz & Boat, but Boat is much quicker than Bazz. Ryan has a better chance of getting by his man than Bazz. With a little head of steam or catching it with a bit of a seam, Bazz is very good at slithering his way into the paint. He's got some of the best ball fakes I've seen in some time. He's even tried the throw through dribble, split the double and continue play that Kemba executed beautifully last season. With that said, Boatright seems to be best suited to go one-on-one and create havoc, may it finish with him taking a midrange or layup, or a dish to an open teammate. I still would prefer they stay in attack mode unless they are up by 3 possessions or more and the clock is under the 2 minute or so.
Maybe I'm very wrong about this. I think they needed a lot more late game heroics last season due to way too many late in the game empty trips down the floor when trying to milk the clock. I'd like to see JC try something a little different. If he finds the decision making sound where the guards know when to try to make the early play and when to pull it out, then they might be better off. If he finds out they make far too many careless decisions and let teams come back on them or pull away due to giving them extra offensive opportunities or easy transition baskets the other way, then simply go back to the old way of doing things.
I know there are a lot of fans who don't want them to run the clock down at all. The perfect scenario is to use as much clock as possible in certain circumstances as long as you get some good shots off most of the time. It often doesn't hurt you if you have a trip or two where you use 35 and don't score, but it's not so good when that happens a whole bunch of times or you end up turning it over because the D is going after you like a dog after a pork chop knowing you have no intention of taking a shot till 25 or more seconds are off the clock. I've noticed that teams are willing to close in hard on the UConn player who receives the ball at the foul line early in the clock, knowing he has little intention to turning and attacking the basket or passing it down low. Same goes for running doubles above the top of the key, knowing our guards are unlikely going to take advantage of the odd numbers it might create early in the clock. I'm sure I'm sounding like a broken record, but they need to do something different in the 2nd half and mix things up to generate better scoring opportunities than they have been doing. In their first 7 games, including the win over FSU, they've squandered some moderate to big leads. Time to do something different!
I'm all for using some clock, but I'd prefer that they bring the ball up quickly and attack the D early, getting a good shot off before the D is set, especially with teams that are falling back into a 2-3 or 3-2 zone. I understand at times you want the team to settle down and not risk losing the ball via steals from behind or poorly executed passes or quick ill advised shots. But there were some times where I thought UConn should have tried to attacked the basket early to get a good shot off, or pull it back out if the play wasn't there. (I think at one point Bazz either did it on his own or got this type of message from JC where he spotted AD sliding into the paint wide open before FSU set up their D but threw it behind him. Good idea IMO, just horrible execution. I think one of the FSU defenders quickly got his hand up, closing off the passing lane a tad, which caused the pass to go behind AD. Also AD expected more of an ally-oop pass, compared to an outside catch that would have required him to make a move toward the basket after catching and gathering the pass. Again, good idea, but bad execution.)
During one of the games earlier in the season JC was upset because of how slow they were bringing the ball up the court, though that was coming out of the half. IMO, he needs to get them into the habit of attacking the basket early and only slowing it up when he needs them to settle things down. I'm not saying they should take the first available shot, but to at least generate a half-dozen or more better shots than they're doing right now. Their half-court execution has not been good so far. The addition of Boatright will help, but more so due to his individual efforts compared to them running quick and solid sets, which has really been lacking this season.
IMO, converting some easy baskets early in the clock, which sometimes draw fouls as well, even though you might also give the ball back after missing a shot without using as much clock as you like, is better than using a full 35 and coming up empty for a bunch of consecutive trips, which seems to plague this team. The benefit of trying to attack early even if they have to pull it back out, prevents them from getting out of sync which happens to teams that back off the throttle. It does take some discipline and the coaches trust that the handlers will know when to try to make the play (drive, pass or kick-out) and when to kick it back and set-up the offense.
It's dumb basketball to take a string of quick bad shots that can lead to more scoring opportunities for the opposition and/or easy transition baskets if you over-commit. I'm not advocating that. You have to be smart and discipline in how you attack and not crash the paint with too many players that could lead to odd numbers going the other way if you don't convert. Note that I'm not talking about our 5 beating their 5 down the floor. It's attacking the paint or finding the open man before the D is set. There's a difference. What I'm advocating can create more good shots w/out taking too high a risk. In most instances if you don't convert you still have enough numbers to prevent easy transition baskets.
I think it is evident to most that UConn makes themselves easily guard-able when they pass the ball around at the top and then try to make a play as the shot clock goes under 10. In fact, I've complained before that they should begin to get into their attack at about the 12 to 15 second mark. I don't think there is much harm taking a good shot with 7 to 8 seconds on the clock giving you the option to make the extra pass or a quick reset if the play isn't there. The alternative is you have one chance at creating a good shot or having to take a shot that has little chance of going down. The addition to Boatright will certainly help since he is very good at breaking down his man. If the D tries to close out on him, he has Bazz and Lamb to pass to who can take advantage of the open space created by the double team. Note the roles can be reversed with Bazz & Boat, but Boat is much quicker than Bazz. Ryan has a better chance of getting by his man than Bazz. With a little head of steam or catching it with a bit of a seam, Bazz is very good at slithering his way into the paint. He's got some of the best ball fakes I've seen in some time. He's even tried the throw through dribble, split the double and continue play that Kemba executed beautifully last season. With that said, Boatright seems to be best suited to go one-on-one and create havoc, may it finish with him taking a midrange or layup, or a dish to an open teammate. I still would prefer they stay in attack mode unless they are up by 3 possessions or more and the clock is under the 2 minute or so.
Maybe I'm very wrong about this. I think they needed a lot more late game heroics last season due to way too many late in the game empty trips down the floor when trying to milk the clock. I'd like to see JC try something a little different. If he finds the decision making sound where the guards know when to try to make the early play and when to pull it out, then they might be better off. If he finds out they make far too many careless decisions and let teams come back on them or pull away due to giving them extra offensive opportunities or easy transition baskets the other way, then simply go back to the old way of doing things.
I know there are a lot of fans who don't want them to run the clock down at all. The perfect scenario is to use as much clock as possible in certain circumstances as long as you get some good shots off most of the time. It often doesn't hurt you if you have a trip or two where you use 35 and don't score, but it's not so good when that happens a whole bunch of times or you end up turning it over because the D is going after you like a dog after a pork chop knowing you have no intention of taking a shot till 25 or more seconds are off the clock. I've noticed that teams are willing to close in hard on the UConn player who receives the ball at the foul line early in the clock, knowing he has little intention to turning and attacking the basket or passing it down low. Same goes for running doubles above the top of the key, knowing our guards are unlikely going to take advantage of the odd numbers it might create early in the clock. I'm sure I'm sounding like a broken record, but they need to do something different in the 2nd half and mix things up to generate better scoring opportunities than they have been doing. In their first 7 games, including the win over FSU, they've squandered some moderate to big leads. Time to do something different!
