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Message: [QUOTE="WhereistheDove?, post: 4599721, member: 1109"] Decided to re-watch UT-Miami tonight and came away with a couple thoughts (apologies in advance for the length): [LIST] [*]Their offense is really impressive. Generally four guys on the court that can create for themselves. Their offense against UT looked like what Arkansas was trying to run against us (ISO and get to the paint), but while we were able to completely sag off Arkansas due to their shooting incompetence, UT had to respect the mid-range and outside threat against Miami. [*]I think we will see a completely different offense than what they showed against UT. They made no effort to establish the three and instead, took advantage of Texas having essentially no defensive presence in the paint. I'm curious to watch an earlier game where they employed a more balanced attack. [*]Wong's ability to create off the bounce is the best we've seen in the tournament. He, and the Miami guards as a whole take the kind of shots you'd generally be happy to give up (a lot of contested mid-range stuff), but seem to make them at a very efficient clip. I think UConn's length will make a big difference there (but also don't expect we'll see nearly the same gameplan). [*]I'm torn on Karaban this game. His defense has been really strong recently, but he's going to give up quickness this game and will have to play flawlessly. I could definitely see some foul trouble and having to go with a four guard lineup for stretches. That said, having him in forces Laranaga to either use their best defender (Miller) on Karaban, or try to have one of the smaller guards D him up (which Karaban will get some great post looks out of). [*]UConn NEEDS to get back on D. They push the pace like crazy, even off makes and several times caught Texas sleeping and got some easy buckets. We did a great job on this against Arkansas and need to keep that going or we're going to get burned by their speed. That's all effort and focus. [*]As impressive as their offense was, their defense was every bit the 100+ ranking they have earned this season. There's no other way to spin it, it was just bad. UT largely ran simple ball screen sets, they ran very little in the way of off ball motion or screens, and yet, UT seemed to have a WIDE OPEN three essentially whenever they wanted. The off-ball defenders just got caught looking at the ball constantly, drifted toward the lane, and then Carr or another Texas guard kicked out for an open look. If they do that against UConn, our shooters are going to feast. [*]UConn should have a sizeable advantage down low. UT didn't really have a back to the basket game going (a few looks from bishop, but more two dribbles and a hook shot), so Omier wasn't really asked to be the primary defender much and with about ten minutes left in the first half he was already gassed (in fairness, the pace was pretty frenetic). This is another area where I'm curious to find another game with him guarding a legit post player, but nothing he showed makes me think he'll be a good matchup for Sanogo's relentless footwork or Clingan's size. If we don't come away with a sizeable rebounding advantage, I would be surprised. [*]Their transition D was also not good. A lot of multiple guys collapsing on the ball handler and no effort to find the shooters. If they play like that against UConn, Jackson and Hawkins/Calcaterra are going to have a field day. [/LIST] I came away from this cautiously optimistic (though I definitely want to watch some earlier games). UConn's offense is better than Texas' without Disu, so they should be able to run the offense they want and get plenty of good looks. I also think Omier is going to have a long day (or short if he gets into foul trouble) and just genuinely have no idea what they're going to do with Clingan. Their offense is legit though and we could certainly still lose if they're hitting outside shots and our shooters have an off-night, and/or if their driving creates foul trouble for some of the key players. I think their margin of error is MUCH smaller than ours though. TL;DR we're doomed. [/QUOTE]

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