UConn vs Creighton Postgame

[HooperScooper]

RJ tried to show Hurley over and over and over he wasn’t the guy

Where is JimHurley? Haven't seen him around here since the season started.

 

[superjohn]

Bouk was obviously an animal. 40/74 of our points is just ridiculous. Effecient too. Best individual performance since Kemba? It's sad that his fantastic play will be overshadowed by the loss.

No one else was ready to play vs a top 10 team on offense. Our lack of experience in high level games compared to theirs showed.

RJ cannot go 2/13 from the field, he just can't. He hit some FTs we needed early on, but the 0/2 to finish the game was bad. Hurley needs to tell him to facilitate or have some kind of consequence... that was bad. So bad.

Gaffney is such a milquetoast player. Doesn't seem to do much of anything, but doesn't turn it over. What else? And he certainly can't go 0/5 from 3 and expect to compete at a high-major level.

I thought Whaley looked pretty good in his minutes... he just is limited offensively.

Carlton and Sanogo seem to be a wash this year. I can understand why Hurley went with Josh's experience late, but I hope Sanogo is able to get some more minutes going forward. He really could be a huge asset next year.

I like Martin's defense and rebounding a lot. He brings a done of toughness and that dunk was ridiculous. He needs to develop a simple catch and shoot 3 at 35% and the ability to hit basic layups when he gets a clean drive or we won't reach our potential in the coming years.

Jackson looked fine in his minutes. Coach doesn't trust him yet.

Adams was fine in a middling conference. His lack of ability to recognize his place in the offense, and what a good shot is, makes him nearly unplayable.


I'm worried about next year without bouk. we can't expect to have a transcendent player like him again. We're going to really need to rely on overall individual improvements to stay competitive in this league.

I don't want us to waste Bouknight, that's what is so frustrating about the Covid environment, not having a second scorer and not having our full compliment of players. I really think he's in the handful of most talented players who has played here.

I'm high on Rahsool being a leader next year and high on Hawkins being a dynamic shooting guard. That coupled with Jackson, Sanogo improvements and having Akok back at full strength doesn't leave me worried but we can't waste what we have in Bouknight.

 

[Kitaman]

Not going to throw Cole under the bus. We took some quick shots under 3 minutes with no passes. Sure they were open but we could have used some time off the clock. Bouk was a culprit.

Hurley to me should have used some clock management down the stretch in regulation.

Cole missing those free throws is something that unfortunately sometimes happens.

 

[superjohn]

Keep in mind if Creighton made a few more of their foul shots this would be a comfortable win for them. What we need is another reliable shooter from 3 point range in Polley and another defender to block shots in Akok. If those things happen we are a top 10 team.

Should've been a comfortable win by UConn.

 

[lange10]

Way too long of a leash on Adams. Some of his minutes today should’ve went to Jackson. Too many players not even looking for their shot on offense.

Our second best offensive weapon is Sanogo. He should’ve been in the game over Carlton in OT. However, if “Time will tell” Cole hits his FT it doesn’t matter.

Bad loss. Cole’s decision making is as frustrating as our last PG that we chased out of town.

 

[UCfor3]

When up 4 they let Creighton get 2 easy points in like 3 seconds. No contest at all on that play

Matador D by Cole on that play. Then he doubled down with 2 missed FTs. That sequence was the game.

 

[Peacefrog]

We have no point guard or 2nd scorer. Gonna be an issue all year if someone doesn't step up dramatically. BOUK cant drop 40 every game.

And further, while there is still a ton to enjoy this season, assuming Bouknight goes pro, where on earth are points going to come from next year? There is nobody on the roster or coming in who can create a shot even close to what Bouknight does. They're going to have to get a whole lot better at making 3's.

 

[UCfor3]

And further, while there is still a ton to enjoy this season, assuming Bouknight goes pro, where on earth are points going to come from next year? There is nobody on the roster or coming in who can create a shot even close to what Bouknight does. They're going to have to get a whole lot better at making 3's.

The hope is for Diggins and Hawkins but that's too big a burden for 2 frosh right out of the shoot.

 

[UConn_Top_Dog]

Way too long of a leash on Adams. Some of his minutes today should’ve went to Jackson. Too many players not even looking for their shot on offense.

Our second best offensive weapon is Sanogo. He should’ve been in the game over Carlton in OT. However, if “Time will tell” Cole hits his FT it doesn’t matter.

Bad loss. Cole’s decision making is as frustrating as our last PG that we chased out of town.

Seems like BA was in there mostly for his defense. But all those missed shots from him hurt us offensively. He needs to work to make his jumper more consistent.

 

[Huskymagic]

I don’t want to hear about Cole ever again. I’ve been telling the yard since the beginning He isn’t that good.

Gaff despite not playing well made some winning plays when presented. Cole never makes good plays down the stretch.

PS: Polley needs to be our second scoring option

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Cole absolutely deserves blame for choking on the two FTs that would have iced the game, but this ending had trouble written all over it when our offense down the stretch was bad 1-on-1 contested shots for 4-5 possessions in a row.

We won the USC game only because they missed every single shot down the stretch, not because we showed any kind of ability to close a game on offense.

UConn history, and the end of last season, isn't closing the game on offense.

It's taking the lead and not letting the other team catch up, usually by making the free throws. 19-24 free throws before Cole's misses.

Season 3, Game 4 against 9th ranked team, after a 17 day layoff. Frustrating like last year's losses, before they learned how to keep the lead.

I have no interest in assigning individual player blame at this point.

 

[DaveHuskiesFan]

Hurley is now 1-6 in OT games. That’s a trend, not an anomaly.

 

[Lefty2one]

I can live with some missed fts, it happens to the best of them. But down the stretch he had alot of really really horrible shots that had no chance of going in. He isn't a pg period, and makes poor decisions.

He doesn't know what to do because he's not used to playing at this level and he can't get off good shots on his own. That's not an indictment, really, but he has to learn what it's like to play against high-major defenses all the time. Teams are sitting on his left and it's bottling him up. He's not quick enough to beat guys off the dribble on his own. For now, when he puts the ball on the floor it has to be with the intent to pass until he's proven he can finish at this level.

 

[Jumpman62114]

We need to get the ball to Sanogo down in the post. I’ll take his post shot over any Gaffney/Adams wide open looks. Its brick city with those two.

 

[UconnFanNVa]

He doesn't know what to do because he's not used to playing at this level and he can't get off good shots on his own. That's not an indictment, really, but he has to learn what it's like to play against high-major defenses all the time. Teams are sitting on his left and it's bottling him up. He's not quick enough to beat guys off the dribble on his own. For now, when he puts the ball on the floor it has to be with the intent to pass until he's proven he can finish at this level.

Exactly. It's like when it's super foggy out and heavy rain. You don't drive faster, you slow down your less aggressive. Cole is being more aggressive when he should be deferring more.

 

[UConn_Top_Dog]

I don’t want to hear about Cole ever again. I’ve been telling the yard since the beginning He isn’t that good.

Gaff despite not playing well made some winning plays when presented. Cole never makes good plays down the stretch.

PS: Polley needs to be our second scoring option

I feel like his lack of height makes it hard for him to get his shot off against bigger rosters on high major teams.

 

[MilliniumPrince]

I expected this team to be up and down early on this season, and they will be. If you told me this team would go toe-to-toe with one of the top 5 offenses in the country coming off a covid break, I would have said you were dead wrong. I am not a moral victory guy. You either win or you lose. That said, they looked much better than I expected.

The other point, Hurley is not a good in-game coach. I call him Baby Squid. Great recruiter and PR frontman, but not a good tactician at all. This shouldn't be a surprise to anyone.

I still believe this will be a big season for us. He will find a consistent number 2 and 3 scoring options, and Defense will continue to improve.

 

[Salty Dog]

This is a really disappointing loss, but it's wrong to put it all on RJ Cole. YES he shot the ball poorly, YES he missed 2 free throws to ice the game, BUT he also played great defense.

Jalen Gaffney contributed nothing.

Tyrese Martin had no offense, and apparently can't hold onto the ball?

Brendan Adam's was just running up and down the court.

What's up with Andre Jackson not even looking at the hoop to score?

Outside of Bouk's amazing play this team played extremely poorly on the offensive side of the ball.

Granted, I think this was a gritty game that we should have won, and will win down the line. We're gonna have a big run in March - when it matters - and if it takes till then go gain respect around the NCAA, so be it.

 

[kemba]

-Cole is not a PG at this level which isn't necessarily an indictment on him but it is a problem as far as the make up of the team as Gaffney has a lot of work to do if he's going to prove he's more than a backup. Going forward though Cole should hit open looks better than he did today so while his shooting, and obviously the 2 free throws, was the biggest reason we lost this particular game he should be better in that aspect going forward.

-Too soft defensively in the final 2 minutes of regulation.

-Concerning Jackson didn't play more since there were definitely minutes there for him today. Maybe a mistake by Hurley, maybe he's not ready, really no way to know right now. He's probably the player the shut down and lack of buy games has hurt the most.

-Bouknight was great and is going to need to continue to be, its hard to see where the consistent 2nd scoring option is going to come from.

-Overall not a bad effort given the circumstances, and missed opportunities for quality wins shouldn't be as killer as they used to be in the American. But obviously frustrating, and we're certainly past the point of being able to say "well, a few years ago we would have lost this game by 20"

 

[Kolumbo]

Obviously the 2 missed free throws were bad. I don't complain about refs anymore because they all stink, but that 5th foul on Whaley, was there even any contact at all? If this is the new big east, no thanks.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

Bouk was obviously an animal. 40/74 of our points is just ridiculous. Effecient too. Best individual performance since Kemba? It's sad that his fantastic play will be overshadowed by the loss.

No one else was ready to play vs a top 10 team on offense. Our lack of experience in high level games compared to theirs showed.

RJ cannot go 2/13 from the field, he just can't. He hit some FTs we needed early on, but the 0/2 to finish the game was bad. Hurley needs to tell him to facilitate or have some kind of consequence... that was bad. So bad.

Gaffney is such a milquetoast player. Doesn't seem to do much of anything, but doesn't turn it over. What else? And he certainly can't go 0/5 from 3 and expect to compete at a high-major level.

I thought Whaley looked pretty good in his minutes... he just is limited offensively.

Carlton and Sanogo seem to be a wash this year. I can understand why Hurley went with Josh's experience late, but I hope Sanogo is able to get some more minutes going forward. He really could be a huge asset next year.

I like Martin's defense and rebounding a lot. He brings a done of toughness and that dunk was ridiculous. He needs to develop a simple catch and shoot 3 at 35% and the ability to hit basic layups when he gets a clean drive or we won't reach our potential in the coming years.

Jackson looked fine in his minutes. Coach doesn't trust him yet.

Adams was fine in a middling conference. His lack of ability to recognize his place in the offense, and what a good shot is, makes him nearly unplayable.


I'm worried about next year without bouk. we can't expect to have a transcendent player like him again. We're going to really need to rely on overall individual improvements to stay competitive in this league.

Something about Martin that KILLS me is how often. He goes up with one hand to grab rebounds. Knocks it out of bounds or to the other team Led to a lot of second and third looks for Creighton today.

 

[auror]

Something about Martin that KILLS me is how often. He goes up with one hand to grab rebounds. Knocks it out of bounds or to the other team Led to a lot of second and third looks for Creighton today.

This would bother me more if he didn't have 10, 7, and 10 rebounds in his 3 games. A couple of them were one handed because he had to go over a guy and couldn't get there with both, too.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

This would bother me more if he didn't have 10, 7, and 10 rebounds in his 3 games. A couple of them were one handed because he had to go over a guy and couldn't get there with both, too.

Think of how many he’d have if he went up with two hands!

 

[Huskymagic]

Something about Martin that KILLS me is how often. He goes up with one hand to grab rebounds. Knocks it out of bounds or to the other team Led to a lot of second and third looks for Creighton today.

Yes there is a solution to that: AJacks. Play Jackson more and that won't happen.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

Yes there is a solution to that: AJacks. Play Jackson more and that won't happen.

He shouldn’t be taking Martin’s minutes but I do agree I wanna see him play more. Inexcusable to give Adams 30 minutes and nothing for Jackson