UConn vs SCSU post game thread

[HawkHusky]

Jump seemed like the best rebounder out the group. While not ideal, idk how he gets no burn this year

I thought KW did great tonight. Not sure how it translates to D1 competition, but he certainly surprised me. Hurley did too for playing him as much as he did.

 

[Report Card]

Game 1 vs SCSU

E. Cobb- 5.9
C. Vital- 6.2
T. Smith- 6.5
A. Gilbert- 8.0
J. Adams- 6.7
I. Whaley- 5.7
B. Adams- 7.8
T. Polley- 5.8
K. Williams- 5.9
J. Carlton- 5.3

D. Hurley- 10
Dance team- 2.6

 

[Kenny11]

My thoughts:
Gilbert is great. He falls a lot which is scary but he is a world class basketball player

Polley gained some muscle and jumpshot looks good but still unsure of himself with the ball.

Brendan Adams is going to be very good. Much bigger than I thought. Confident stroke.

Vital was good and only made a couple crazy decisions. Hurley is going to love him despite his faults.

Tarin Smith is our best conditioned player. Never seemed winded after playing really tough full court man to man.

Cobb looked great physically but didn’t play well.


Carlton had some moments but should’ve dominated.

Whaley played hard. We will need him to finish above the rim and keep possessions alive with hustle. Not comfortable with the ball though.

Too many rebounds tapped instead of grabbed.

Jalen was Jalen.

Overall it seems the identity is going to be to outwork teams and attack relentlessly with a really good and aggressive group of guards. Sid would fit in really well as a long bouncy athlete in the front court with this style. Hopefully he’s back soon.

Also, I couldn’t help but think of how stacked we will be at guard next season with B. Adams, Gilbert, Vital, Bouknight and Gaffney. Wow

 

[Dove]

Regardless of results this season, I love Hurley’s coaching style. Squad is working really hard and rewarded for doing so.

I was in chat for a few minutes and saw posts that called the front court lethargic zombies.

 

[husky429]

My thoughts:
Gilbert is great. He falls a lot which is scary but he is a world class basketball player

Polley gained some muscle and jumpshot looks good but still unsure of himself with the ball.

Brendan Adams is going to be very good. Much bigger than I thought. Confident stroke.

Vital was good and only made a couple crazy decisions. Hurley is going to love him despite his faults.

Tarin Smith is our best conditioned player. Never seemed winded after playing really tough full court man to man.

Cobb looked great physically but didn’t play well.


Carlton had some moments but should’ve dominated.

Whaley played hard. We will need him to finish above the rim and keep possessions alive with hustle. Not comfortable with the ball though.

Too many rebounds tapped instead of grabbed.

Jalen was Jalen.

Overall it seems the identity is going to be to outwork teams and attack relentlessly with a really good and aggressive group of guards. Sid would fit in really well as a long bouncy athlete in the front court with this style. Hopefully he’s back soon.

Also, I couldn’t help but think of how stacked we will be at guard next season with B. Adams, Gilbert, Vital, Bouknight and Gaffney. Wow

Jalen was Jalen? He looked awful until the last 10 mimutes up 30+.

Al clearly outplayed him.

When it comes to pressure defense, he's clearly the man out. His pressure sucked against d2 guards. Disappointing performance from him.

Probably mental as much as anything with the suspension. He'll be back

 

[superjohn]

I was in chat for a few minutes and saw posts that called the front court lethargic zombies.

The frontcourt is going to be an enormous problem again this season.

 

[auror]

Jump seemed like the best rebounder out the group. While not ideal, idk how he gets no burn this year

His hands don't seem great to me and he has 0 BBIQ. Threw an outlet to Polley's back instead of AG standing right next to him.

 

[UofCT]

Use the chat. This is not a game thread.

Chat

chat rooms? Come on this isn’t AOL

 

[8893]

Game 1 vs SCSU

E. Cobb- 5.9
C. Vital- 6.2
T. Smith- 6.5
A. Gilbert- 8.0
J. Adams- 6.7
I. Whaley- 5.7
B. Adams- 7.8
T. Polley- 5.8
K. Williams- 5.9
J. Carlton- 5.3

D. Hurley- 10
Dance team- 2.6

New feature?

 

[temery]

chat rooms? Come on this isn’t AOL

No, but what I'm thinking can't be spelled without an A, O, and an L.

 

[superjohn]

Jalen was Jalen? He looked awful until the last 10 mimutes up 30+.

Al clearly outplayed him.

When it comes to pressure defense, he's clearly the man out. His pressure sucked against d2 guards. Disappointing performance from him.

Probably mental as much as anything with the suspension. He'll be back

Agreed, I'm really disappointed with how Jalen has come into this season. He'll be fine and get his points but it's still the same lackadaisical Jalen.

Good things are we will be less stagnant on offense, way more pressure D, and Hurley holds everyone accountable.

 

[auror]

Men's Basketball vs Southern Connecticut State University (EXH.) on 11/2/2018 - UConn Huskies | University of Connecticut Athletics

@polycom

 

[AntG168]

Jalen was Jalen? He looked awful until the last 10 mimutes up 30+.

Al clearly outplayed him.

When it comes to pressure defense, he's clearly the man out. His pressure sucked against d2 guards. Disappointing performance from him.

Probably mental as much as anything with the suspension. He'll be back

I disagree. He wasnt awful

 

[superjohn]

Men's Basketball vs Southern Connecticut State University (EXH.) on 11/2/2018 - UConn Huskies | University of Connecticut Athletics

@superjohn

I watched it.

 

[auror]

I watched it.

Tagged wrong person.

 

[Austin316]

I was at the game. AG will definitely grow as a leader for this team. It was hard trying to make anything work with lack of leadership. It was apparent in the game and on the sidelines. However, I say this while knowing it’s only an exhibition game and Jalen was sidelined for the first 5-10 minutes. AG will thrive in his years here! Jalen Played OK. Vital plays with a lot of passion. He was a little hot headed today but it was only after he made a mistake. He plays like he is starving. Very hungry husky! Carlton kinda disappointed me a bit. He needs to be a key player for us this year and he was struggling to score against a small D2 team. He had plenty of opportunities but couldn’t close... again, still early. KWINTON’S DUNK! That is the only nice thing I’ll say about him. I love him as a player, also as a person, but he was rough in terms of basic b-ball IQ. There was a time in the game when he threw the ball on an outlet pass to Whaley when I think Gilbert was right in front of him, pass hit Whaley in the back. On another occasion during a shooting foul both he and Cobb were behind the 3pt line while Jalen and AG were in the paint boxing out. Hurley was furious and that’s when I realized, despite being up 15 or so, this might be a long year.

Long story short, some of our key players weren’t in (Jalen for the start, Mamadou, Sid and Yakwe) which some may argue was the problem, but I see a little more.

 

[gtcam]

chat rooms? Come on this isn’t AOL

wrong answer to the right man
guess you haven't been around much

 

[husky429]

I disagree. He wasnt awful

Certainly wasn't good.

 

[UConnStats]

One of the big takeaways for me was that Polley isn’t ready for huge minutes. This frontcourt needs Wilson. This frontcourt is severely lacking in talent and although he’s got his own flaws, Wilson brings an edge in-game that Polley, Whaley, and Carlton don’t have at this stage.

Glad they took Gilbert out once bodies starting hitting the floor constantly. He’s already proven that he’s 1B or even 1A on this squad.

Brendan Adams is going to see a lot of minutes at the 3. Personally I’m hoping he can emulate Cumberland’s freshman year. That’s a lofty goal, but he seems legit. I underestimated him at the time he committed.

 

[storrsroars]

Didn't watch, but while impressed overall with the box score, Carlton/Gilbert/Cobb were a combined 6-15 from the FT line, which accounts for the 66.7% performance. Yuk.

 

[Dabutlerdidit]

The frontcourt is going to be an enormous problem again this season.

3 ESPN top 100 players sat our bench tonight.. hopefully things evolve

 

[MuchoDogYears]

Positives: Aggressive D, lots of deflections, steals. Guards penetrated well, took it to the hoop strong or dished. Ball moved quickly on offense, not windshield wiper. Brandon Adams and Tarin Smith both showed more game than I expected. AG was steady on O and a pest on D.
Negatives: Thought Carlton regressed from last year, played soft, didn't finish well, didn't rebound. Points scored by UConn were mostly by the guards taking it to the hoop with SCSU having no big bodies inside to stop them. Where will the points come from when they play D1 teams that have some interior height and D? Rebounding will need to be by committee again as none of the big men owned the paint... they should have.

Takeaway: They are who we thought they are. A guard heavy team with very little inside presence. Diarra is needed so hopefully he can return soon. For this team to win as constructed now, they'll have to do it by forcing TO's and playing tough D, and that'll rest on the shoulders of a deep, talented, roster of guards. But somewhere along the way, to win the big games, they need to find (1) a shooter who can hit mid-range jumpers and (2) and an inside game.

 

[superjohn]

One of the big takeaways for me was that Polley isn’t ready for huge minutes. This frontcourt needs Wilson. This frontcourt is severely lacking in talent and although he’s got his own flaws, Wilson brings an edge in-game that Polley, Whaley, and Carlton don’t have at this stage.

Agreed, we desperately need him. Also need something from Mamadou (if he can make it back) and Yakwe. Whaley tries hard and will make a couple of good energy plays but his lack of skills and slight body will be exposed against good competition. Polley still looks like he's not ready for much more than 3 point shooting and I've never understood why so many boneyarders are so high on Carlton.

We'll always need 3 guards on the floor and 4 guards some of the time.

 

[superjohn]

3 ESPN top 100 players sat our bench tonight.. hopefully things evolve

In our frontcourt? Man, I wish.

 

[JimHurley]

The 4 spot remains a questions mark. We are stacked at guard. I could see all 5 guards averaging >15 minutes a game. A little breakdown by player:
Polley - Good stroke but too 3-point dependent. I'd like him to come off the bench
Gilbert - Love this dude. Great energy, playmaker, smart decisions, LEADER
B Adams - If you told me this kid was a 3 star, barely top 200 recruit, I wouldn't believe you. He is very good
J Adams - Sort of an off game but I still see him leading us in scoring
Smith - Gritty and tough. He will give us good minutes
Vital - Plays smarter and with fire. That will come in handy
Williams - Obviously lacks some basketball skill but he brings intensity and fights for boards. He will provide a great spark off the bench
Whaley - Not much of an offensive threat but knows the game. Positions himself well and makes good decisions
Cobb - He was off. Still like him to play the most minutes at the 5
Carlton - SOFT. Skilled but soft. Big/tough teams will bully him

Biggest takeaways are that Smith + B Adams were much better than I expected. Our front court is thinner than I expected. We should see a boost once Mamadou + Yakwe return.