UConn vs. St. Joe's - A Detailed Look Back (attention span required)

[champs99and04]

If you thought you were going to survive the offseason without me compulsively re-watching a game five times and sharing my observations in no more than 6,000 words, you were wrong. I hope you will read if for no other reason than to reassure me that some small segment of the population finds value in my mental instability. Best of luck:

First Half:

19:54 - UConn struggles to contain nifty double screen on opening possession that is initiated by a dribble hand-off on the right wing. Napier loses containment, Nolan fails to step up, and Galloway sinks a wide open mid-range jumper on the lately recovering defense.

19:12 - UConn’s counter-attacks to the post game of St. Joe’s is obvious almost immediately. St. Joe’s pounds the ball inside to Roberts Jr. – defended by Phil Nolan – and Boatright and Daniels each sag into the paint, about half way between their primary assignments and the ball. They both reach-in to try to knock the ball away, and Daniels jars it loose, recovered by Giffey.

18:51 - The problems Kanacevic would cause UConn were also immediately obvious. Kanacevic is fed on a side pick-and-roll, and picked up by Daniels. Phil Nolan cheats over – again, about half-way between his man and the ball – while Giffey tries to blanket Roberts Jr. on the weak side. However, Kanacevic whips a left-handed pass to Roberts Jr., and though Nolan recovers, he’s sealed too far deep to do anything about it.

17:23 - Kanacevic continues to wreak havoc on the UConn defense, driving from the top of the key on Daniels, attracting an over-zealous Brimah, and dumping the ball off to Roberts Jr. for a wide open dunk.

13:48 - Napier needs no space to get off a shot. Bembry defends him as well as you possibly can on a baseline out-of-bounds play, and Napier somehow gets the shot over the tight closeout and knocks it down.

13:02 - Napier is a supremely disruptive defender, but his off-ball adventures were exploited at times against Galloway. He falls asleep for a brief moment on a Kanacevic post-up, and Galloway drifts to the corner and drills a three.

12:28 - Napier makes good on his blunder the very next possession, lifting his hands in the air and deflecting a pass that leads to a UConn fast break bucket.

11:58 - UConn runs an excellent set with just under 12 remaining. Napier begins at the top of the key, dishes the ball to Giffey directly to his left, and uses a Tyler Olander screen on the right elbow. He proceeds to cut to the right block, and screen for Lasan Kromah stationed in the right corner across Omar Calhoun. Olander then darts to the right block to set a down screen for Napier, who then pops up to the elbow to receive a pass from Giffey. Napier beats his defender by a step off the curl and launches a jumper with plenty of room (which he misses). You can generally expect UConn to run sets like these with Olander in the game because of his team best screening.

11:03 - At about the 11 minute mark, Napier breaks up a 2 on 1 with a ridiculously well-timed swipe at the ball. He is ridiculous.

10:40 - Bembry drives hard into the paint, attracts Olander on the help, and feeds the big man with a gorgeous look-away pass. St. Joe’s has come to play.

9:25 - Nolan’s foot-work in the low post is very promising. He catches, turns middle, hesitates, and rolls it in with his right hand. Pretty move.

8:49 - Galloway hits a ridiculous fall-away jumper on Giffey who plays good defense.

7:20 - Kanacevic operates on the left wing and throws a beautiful pocket-pass to a back-cutter. Kromah should have defended it better, but there was a very small window there. Kanacevic is eating UConn up.

6:53 - DeAndre Daniels decides to join the game, as he finds himself open for three on the right wing after a great cut along the baseline (credit to Brimah for a strong screen).

6:35 - Boatright recklessly gambles for a steal and leaves his man wide open for a three. 30-23 St. Joe’s.

6:12 - St. Joe’s is simply daring UConn to throw the ball into their big men. Kanacevic hardly even makes an effort to front the post or gain any traction, and Brimah catches the ball about 3 feet from the hoop before bricking a turnaround. The strategy is paying off so far.

5:31 - After a St. Joe’s defensive breakdown yields a Daniels three, Kanacevic comes right back down the court, gets Daniels in the air on an up-fake, and drains a three with him still in the air.

4:35 - Twice now Brimah has forced Roberts into a miss in the post but then surrendered an offensive rebound. Roberts has been the fastest man off the floor and Brimah is a bit slow to react.

3:17 - Galloway makes an unbelievable pass late in the shot clock, changing his mind in the midst of his shooting motion and slinging the ball to a wide open Bembry for a layup.

32.7 - Ollie uses his first timeout with 30 seconds left in the half in an apparent attempt to set up a play. They spread the floor for Napier at the top of the key – with Boatright stationed in the left corner – and Daniels bolts up for a ball screen. Daniels sets the screen on the left side, Napier drives left, attracts Boatright’s defender, and fires it to him for a three to cut the lead to five.

First Half Recap:

If there is one word to describe how the upset-minded Owls played in the first half, it’s fearless. They played like a team that expected to win, while UConn was on their heels, tentative, and at times frustrated. That simplistic yet concise summation of the first half can be attributed in part to the excellent coaching of Phil Martelli, but more directly, is a product of UConn personnel deficiencies that were exacerbated by St. Joe’s.

If there is a pressing weakness that was displayed by UConn in the first half, it was their inability to defend the post, and many of the open shots generated by the St. Joe’s offense were collateral damage stemming from that flaw. UConn’s aggressive helping principles – that is, the tendency of their guards to sag into the paint on post-ups – backfired at times in the first half, particularly when the ball was in the hands of the Owls talented point forward, Halil Kanacevic. Because Connecticut is unable to defend post players with one defender, the remaining four players on the court are frequently forced to over-compensate, providing assistance on the ball while still maintaining attachment to their primary assignments. In this regard, Kanacevic was UConn’s kryptonite, regularly maneuvering his way into the lane, attracting help defenders, and dumping the ball off to open teammates. Kanacevic was the primary initiator of the Owls offense – whether in the post, or off drives – and knifed the Connecticut defense up to the tune of four assists.

As a team, St. Joes’ ball movement in the first half boarded on exceptional. Connecticut defended the pick and roll reasonably well, but they were frequently over-aggressive on ball fakes which led to an array of drive-and-kick opportunities that the Owls converted. The savvy, patience, and intelligence demonstrated by all five St. Joe’s starters in the first half was a death sentence for a UConn defense that was often undisciplined and in alert. While Connecticut’s defense is in need of some fine-tuning during the intermission, much of St. Joe’s offensive output can simply be attributed to individual brilliance. Langston Galloway hit five of his six first half shots, most of which were tightly contested.

On the other end of the floor, St. Joe’s seemed content with post-ups from UConn big men Amida Brimah and Phil Nolan. Rather than fronting the post, St. Joe’s walled off on the backline, hedged hard on ball screens, and forced Boatright and Napier to choose between dumping the ball inside and attacking the help. Kevin Ollie’s offense wasn’t wildly imaginative in the first half, but there was enough in the way of coherent off-ball screening and cutting to generate open looks.

 

[champs99and04]

Second Half:

20:00 – UConn clears out the right side of the floor and allows Daniels to attack his defender from the block. He takes two dribbles moving to his left, rises up, and hits a shot over the defender.

19:06 – Pausing the frame with 18 seconds on the shot clock, Napier is confronted with a defensive alignment that he had seen for much of the game, and it was one he would need to solve for his team to advance. Per usual, St. Joe’s uses Bembry as their primary defender, likely as an attempt to cloud Napier’s shooting pocket and force him towards the basket. Phil Martelli understands Bembry cannot stay in front of the quicker Napier, and he likely also realizes a smaller defender would permit Napier more breathing room on his shot release, but these are the type of predicaments great players force defenses into. In this case, the lesser of two evils can be borne out by advanced statistics. While Napier is among the nation’s elite from virtually every spot behind the arch, his shot chart indicates that finishing at the rim is his Achilles heel. As such, Napier’s ability to read the help defense correctly becomes imperative to his team’s chances of winning. In this instance, Napier explodes past the slower Bembry, forces the help defender to step up, and drops the ball off to Nolan for a dunk. The sequence pulls UConn within one, but it’s obvious that this game of cat and mouse will play a big role in determining a winner.

19:00 – Best defensive sequence of the game for UConn. Galloway is forced into an off-balance three late in the shot clock, and now the Huskies have a chance to take the lead.

18:00 – Just as UConn’s defense appears to be gelling to stifling levels, Napier is back-cut by Galloway, leading to a foul. These are the sort of innocent defensive missteps that can be the difference between a lonely bus ride back to Storrs and two additional nights in Buffalo. As a senior leader, Napier needs to be more responsible than he has been defending away from the ball.

17:30 – Bembry puts his hand down for a fraction of a second, and Napier rises up from the right wing – one of his favorite spots – and releases the game-tying three that rims out. We’ll see how long St. Joe’s can keep him down.

17:15 – Kanacevic forces Brimah to switch onto Galloway by briefly dislodging Napier with a solid screen on the right wing. Brimah defends it reasonably well, but he can’t lift his long arms in time to prevent Galloway from sinking a tough three. That’s the game of basketball; a good look from one great player on one end spins out, and a good look from another great player goes down. Instead of being tied, St. Joe’s is back up six.

16:21 – A paused frame with 25 seconds on the shot clock in a UConn possession provides a great illustration of just how unconcerned St. Joe’s is with Brimah as an offensive threat. As the Owls swarm a Napier/Brimah ball screen, Brimah drifts to the left block unaccompanied, receives a pass from Napier, and double dribbles. St. Joe’s is daring UConn’s big men to beat them and they aren’t.

16:07 – St. Joe’s catches Daniels on a beautiful slip screen. Kanacevic appears to be setting a ball screen for Galloway on the right wing, but at the last moment he rolls to the hoop, receives a pass before the tardy Daniels can recover, and draws a foul.

16:03 – Kanacevic misses the second of the two free throws, and UConn is completely frozen, yielding an inexcusable offensive rebound at a vital moment of the game. St. Joe’s commits an unforced turnover, but UConn’s body language is discouraging. Kevin Ollie has some work to do at the under-16 timeout.

15:27 – Boatright beats his man on the right baseline and Giffey moves in unison with him, drifting towards the unoccupied left corner. Boatright guns a two-handed pass towards him and Giffey pulls UConn within four.

14:55 – Napier has Bembry on roller skates after a vicious jab step, and he is able to create room to knock down a three – with a little help from the rim – to bring UConn within one. When the Huskies needed them most, the two UConn guards have risen to the occasion.

14:26 – When UConn shuts off all the water on the perimeter, St. Joe’s pounds the ball in to Kanacevic on the left block. Boatright more or less abandons his assignment, and Brimah cheats over towards the middle from the weak side. After spinning towards the middle, Kanacevic whips a one-handed pass to Roberts on the right baseline. Brimah – who briefly fell asleep – fouls him but cannot prevent the basket.

13:12 – Kanacevic again catches the ball on the left block, but this time he turns towards the middle, away from the help, and hits an easy hook shot over Daniels. St. Joe’s has reclaimed their six point lead and Kanacevic looks like he could be a death sentence.

12:55 – Napier blows by Bembry once again and this time the help does not arrive.

11:22 – Boatright makes a gorgeous play off the dribble, attracting the help and flipping the ball over his head in mid-air to an open Brimah for a dunk. At this point, the game has become a classic struggle between Connecticut’s inability to defend the post and St. Joe’s inability to defend the dribble. You get the sense that either team can create the shot they want.

11:05 – UConn responds to Kanacevic’s next post-up by sending a hard double and forcing him to give it up, which eventually leads to a St. Joe’s turnover. Nice adjustment by Ollie.

10:35 – Terrence Samuel checks into the game, who somehow misses consecutive layups within a span of three seconds. On the bright side, Boatright is beginning to cause St. Joe’s all sorts of problems off-the-dribble.

9:35 – After a St. Joe’s basket, Boatright sizes up Roberts following a switch and drills a three, bringing UConn within one. He has shown up.

9:20 – St. Joe’s butchers a pick-and-roll coverage, and Napier blows by the recovering Bembry for an and-one. UConn is in the lead.

8:40 – Giffey and Kromah run a basic dribble-handoff, and Kromah is able to get all the way to the basket for a layup. We’re beginning to see why St. Joe’s had a sub-50 defense. They can’t contain the dribble at all, and UConn appears to have a quickness advantage at every position.

7:25 – Giffey tries to front the post on Kanacevic, but he receives a perfectly placed pass from Bembry and Giffey is out of position. Kanacevic dunks it to put St. Joe’s back up one.

6:50 – Kanacevic is bumped by Giffey on yet another post-up, which is double trouble for UConn: not only are the Owls in the bonus, but Giffey is forced to go to the bench with four fouls. Kanacevic has simply eaten up every defender the Huskies have thrown at him, even the normally stout Giffey. He drains both free throws and St. Joe’s leads by three.

6:12 – Kanacevic catches the ball again on the left block, and this time, it’s Daniels turn to learn a lesson. Kanacevic fakes left, turn’s middle, and scores. St. Joe’s is up five as Kanacevic is in the process of singlehandedly ending UConn’s season. Kevin Ollie needs to get the ball out of his hands.

5:53 – Daniels drives left baseline and scores easily. UConn needs a stop.

5:30 – Galloway hits a step-back jumper along the left baseline with Kromah defending him. Virtually every one of his makes has been contested and it just doesn’t matter.

4:34 – Kromah receives the ball on the right baseline out of an in-bounds play, dribbles hard towards the middle of the floor, and spots Boatright for an open three. It was more of a mistake by St. Joe’s than a great play by Kromah, but he has been big as a complementary facilitator in times of crisis.

4:07 – Napier fails to box out Bembry, who crashes from the weak side for a put back off a Kanacevic miss. This hasn’t been Napier’s finest hour as a Husky.

3:42 – Napier receives a double screen and is able to create plenty of space to launch a three from the right wing, which he misses badly. It just hasn’t been his night, and UConn is in dire need of a stop.

3:23 – Kromah plays phenomenal individual defense on Galloway for basically the entire possession, eventually forcing a wild miss.

3:10 – Napier takes the ball coast-to-coast, dribbling around two defenders, absorbing contact from Kanacevic and finishing. Given his struggles to this point, going one on three in the open court is pretty damn ballsy.

2:35 – After much pain and agony, Kanacevic is finally stopped on the left block, via DeAndre Daniels, who takes away his air space and stuffs it back in his face. St. Joe’s gets the ball back on a tie-up, but there are only nine seconds on the shot clock, and they turn it over trying to inbound it.

2:15 – Speaking of balls, Daniels pops up from the left block, receives a pass from Napier, and drains a three to put UConn up one. For as inconsistent as he was during his UConn career, boy was he there when it mattered.

2:00 – St. Joe’s runs the same play they ran to produce a Galloway basket on their opening possession; Galloway is stationed near the left corner, and then he receives the ball on a dribble-handoff and builds a head of steam as he begins to use the double screen that has been set up for him at the top of the key. However, this time Kromah is defending him instead of Napier, and UConn sniffs it out. With about thirteen seconds on the shot clock, Kanacevic and Wilson run a high ball screen near the top of the key. Daniels is a little too relaxed on the drop, and Wilson – rarely heard from for most of this game – lofts a floater over the defense before Boatright can recover.

1:20 – Napier tries to dribble the ball around Bembry and ends up losing control of it out-of-bounds. UConn desperately needs a stop down one.

54.0 – Wilson and Kanacevic run another high ball screen, this time on the right wing. Daniels is more aggressive on the hedge this time, but he ends up fouling Wilson, who sinks both free throws to push the St. Joe’s lead to three.

49.0 – UConn sends out Napier, Boatright, Giffey, Daniels, and Brimah for the most critical possession of their season. After a few moments, Napier receives the ball at the top of the key, about four steps behind the three point arch. Immediately after he catches the ball, Brimah darts up from the left block and appears set on screening for Napier on his left hand side. But before Brimah arrives, Napier blows by Bembry and gets right to the rim. It is unclear whether Brimah’s apparent high ball screen was a designed decoy to pull Kanacevic away from the basket, or if Napier intentionally ignored the screen. Given the execution of the play, my bet is on the former. Unfortunately, Napier is unable to finish over Bembry, and the ball careens towards the baseline. Somehow, Brimah keeps the ball alive, dribbles once, maintains his pivot, and spins over his left shoulder for the and-one heard ‘round the world. It was just an amazing demonstration of composure for any big man, much less one as inexperienced as Brimah.

39.0 – Kromah once again picks up Galloway, who, unsurprisingly, is content to allow the shot clock to dwindle down as far as possible before engaging him. With about nine seconds on the shot clock – and a little more than twelve on the game clock – Galloway begins to seize up Kromah. It’s worth noting that despite Galloway beginning just a couple steps beyond half court, Kromah remains in a tight guarding position, peering right into Galloway’s chest. By some wild gift from God – likely produced by some combination of nerves and fantastic defense – the man who had destroyed the Huskies all night long coughs the ball up trying to cross back over to his left, and a frenetic scramble ensues. In what was a similar stroke of luck that went the other way, Galloway managed to re-gather the ball with about five seconds on the shot clock – with Kromah still on the ground – and appeared to dribble into a wide open three from the right wing before Ryan Boatright abandoned his assignment to save the day, halting Galloway’s momentum and allowing Kromah to re-enter the play. Boatright could not have read the play in a more alert, intelligent manner, as he simultaneously eliminated both Galloway’s shooting room and the passing lane to the right corner. As the two made contact, Boatright sprung backwards and Galloway was only able to muster a double-pump desperation heave from the right wing. The ball did not reach the rim and the horn sounded to signal a shot clock violation. While Brimah’s heroics on the possession before will be remembered for years to come, the tag team efforts of Boatright and Kromah on this possession were equally valuable in saving UConn’s season.

2.7 – In direct contradiction to my impulse at the time – inbound the ball safely and play for overtime – Ollie designs a supremely ballsy, brilliant play out of the timeout that UConn executes flawlessly. Giffey lofts a pass to DeAndre Daniels about ten feet south of half court, and Napier comes wide open on the right hand side, catching Daniels’ pass and dribbling into an open, one-legged three that is just long.

Overtime:

4:36 – UConn is now automatically doubling on every St. Joe’s post touch. In a span of ten seconds, they double team Roberts and Kanacevic, eventually forcing a jump ball. St. Joe’s appears much less comfortable against the swarming Connecticut defense than they were when they were able to methodically dump the ball into the post.

4:01 – Daniels moves leftward towards the top of the key, fakes a dribble hand-off, and explodes to his left absorbing contact and finishing, fouling out Kanacevic in the process. Whether this was a designed play or a subset of UConn’s natural offense, Daniels’ could not have been more assertive during crunch-time of this game.

3:30 – Just when St. Joe’s appeared down for the count, Galloway hits a ridiculous, contested three over the outstretched arms of Daniels. He has made UConn pay for switching just about every time.

3:10 – One of UConn’s defining defensive stands – complete with textbook hedging, off-ball discipline, and air-tight guarding – ends with a ticky-tack foul on Napier. Bembry misses the first of the one-and-one and UConn regains possession up two.

2:10 – St. Joe’s appears lost without Kanacevic, and now up four, UConn can sense blood in the water. Despite Galloway’s brilliance to this point, he is more of a shooter than a creator, and with Boatright now in full-fledged glove mode on Wilson, the Owls dribble penetration has been completely cut-off. They are eventually forced into a contested shot from the corner that misses.

1:37 – Napier – a disappointment for much of the evening – delivers the knockout blow, splitting a hedge in a way only a handful of guards in the country can, and converting an and-one over the help defense.

1:01 – Napier’s reaction to St. Joe’s full-court pressure is priceless. He stares at the defense for three seconds – almost to visualize his escape path – and casually strolls towards the left sideline, gets fouled, and sinks both free throws. He couldn’t have been less bothered by it.

50.0 – Wilson’s long-range three to pull St. Joe’s within five would be exhilarating against virtually every other team, but this UConn squad just takes your soul in these situations.

33.0 – UConn begins to flirt with disaster, as Boatright fouls Wilson (who absorbs the contact and scores) and UConn botches the accompanying missed foul shot. Thankfully, the ball is booted back out of bounds by St. Joe’s and UConn’s free throw shooting clinic is able to resume.

0:00 – UConn 89, St. Joe’s 81

 

[champs99and04]

Game Recap:

The feeling-out process that consumed most of the first half developed into an X’s and O’s bloodbath early in the second, as the veteran Phil Martelli battled wits with the Jim Calhoun protégé, Kevin Ollie. Martelli possessed the upper-hand for most of the second half, baiting the Huskies into posting their inexperienced big men, channeling the paint-deficient Napier into the teeth of the help defense, and ruthlessly battering a bulk-ravaged UConn front court with heavy doses of Kanacevic post-ups.

The Owls’ defensive principles weren’t particularly sophisticated, but they were largely effective for much of the game. The St. Joe’s perimeter defense was lacking in foot speed, however, Napier was unable to carve them up to the extent he did defenses of similar ilk – most notably, Memphis – due to the way they defended ball screens. Rather than employing conventional hedging techniques – which would involve a big man either swarming the pick-and-roll or dropping momentarily to allow the initial defender a chance to recover – St. Joe’s chose to defend Napier extremely aggressively with DeAndre Bembry, almost as means of tempting Napier to attack without a ball screen. Additionally, they exaggerated their backline help structure, sometimes completely abandoning the UConn centers and forcing Napier to pass through a sea of arms. Napier’s shot chart may shed some light on this defensive strategy. One of the most lethal in the country from three and from mid-range, Napier’s lone offensive flaw has long lied in his ability to finish at the rim. While he’s something of a contortion artist and also a difficult shot-maker, his highlight-reel finishes frequently reveal compensation for his small stature. It is important to note, though, that St. Joe’s did not send help from everywhere. Rather than selling out on shooters and allowing Napier to pry away at them that way, the lone defensive vacancy caused by the help was generally the drop-off pass. As such, Napier was forced into several instantaneous reads that tested the foundation of trust he had developed in his teammates, especially Amida Brimah and Phil Nolan. Ultimately, he was able to preserver.

Offensively, St. Joe’s was as fluid as any team in the tournament. From the long-developing dribble-handoffs, to the precisely spaced post-ups, to the perfectly timed slip screens, St. Joe’s was a confident, cohesive unit executing their game plan at a high level from start to finish. Halil Kanacevic – St. Joes’ supremely gifted point forward – dominated the Huskies until the closing moments of the second half, first with his razor-quick passing skills and later with his diverse array of post moves. His final stat line – 12 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 assists – does not begin to scratch the surface of the impact he had on this game. The attention he attracted in pick and roll situations enabled Galloway to draw switches and the double teams he frequently demanded in the post allowed Roberts Jr. and Bembry to crash the glass from the weak side.

Needless to say, Connecticut’s default post defense – consisting of one man defending the post and two or three others dropping into the paint, about half-way between man and ball – was rendered ineffective by Kanacevic’s passing ability. Whoever Kevin Ollie tried as his primary defender (Daniels and Giffey both tried, and generally failed) was carved up and sometimes humiliated. And if Kanacevic was the one lighting a match to what was once a promising season, Langston Galloway – the Owls’ leading scorer – was pouring gasoline on it. Galloway was just as mercilessly efficient as his stat line – 8 of 13 from the field, 4 of 7 from three, 5 of 6 from the line – would indicate, and more demoralizing was the degree of difficulty of those shots. Napier struggled early on containing Galloway away from the ball, and those early jumpers seemed to light his fuse for the rest of the game. UConn’s pick-and-roll defense was generally solid, but it’s nearly impossible to pitch a perfect game against the Owls’ unending wave of motion, and virtually every time they forced a switch, Galloway assaulted a UConn big man from deep.

Kevin Ollie responded to the Kanacevic/Galloway onslaught with two adjustments that may have saved UConn’s season. Rather than continuing to allow Kanacevic to deliberately pry away at the defense, Ollie began ordering hard doubles whenever Kanacevic touched the ball in the vicinity of the basket. In many ways, this was an inevitable omission spawned by nearly two halves of dominance, but Ollie deserves credit for his willingness to deviate from his usual principles. Against a team that was more potent from the perimeter, the decision to double Kanacevic may have backfired. However, UConn’s advantage in perimeter quickness was pronounced from the opening tip-off, and due to their frenetic and well-timed rotations, any damage Kanacevic caused by making quick reads out of the double team was minimized. The second adjustment Ollie made that paid major dividends was entrusting graduate transfer Lasan Kromah with the duties of slowing Galloway. Beginning at around the three and a half minute mark, Kromah begins to expose Galloway’s lack of explosiveness off the bounce by hounding him whenever he touched the ball and forcing him to put the ball on the floor. In two vitally crucial possessions in the final minutes of regulation, Kromah forced up a wild miss and then nearly caused a turnover during St. Joes’ final possession of the second half.

The best player on the court for the Huskies was Ryan Boatright. Despite Napier’s gaudy stat line – 24 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals – and overtime heroics, his defensive discipline left much to be desired and his shot (just 7 of 22 from the field) was off. With their leader scuffling, Boatright’s efficiency – 5 of 10 from the field, 4 of 6 from three, and 3 of 4 from the line – was direly needed. Although St. Joe’s controlled most of the game, their difficulties containing dribble penetration were persistent. Boatright was at the forefront of this discrepancy in quickness on the perimeter, gashing the seams of the St. Joe’s defense for timely dump-off passes, drilling pull-up threes when his defender gave him too much space, and leaving the help scrambling on pick-and-rolls. Defensively, he was able to find the perfect blend between sound and disruptive, holding Chris Wilson in check (4 of 9, 1 assist) while still making the sort of spontaneous, saving plays that highlight his instincts and basketball IQ. Given the stage, this was about as mistake-free a game as you can possibly play.

Not far behind Boatright was DeAndre Daniels, who saved his best for last, scoring eight of his eighteen points from the final 2:12 of regulation on, including an enormous three point play to put UConn ahead for good. His timid demeanor and inconsistent play that has largely defined his play as a Husky could not have been placed further in the backburner. Daniels was in attack mode for the entirety of the game, and he constantly looked to exploit the slower Roberts and Kanacevic, blowing by them on hard hedges and knocking down threes on late rotations. Perhaps more importantly, was his defensive stand against Kanacevic late in regulation, stuffing him on a post-up and invigorating his teammates with the jolt they needed. His pick-and-roll coverage was solid as usual despite some note-worthy blunders corralling Wilson towards the end of regulation.

For all of my incessant ramblings about stuff most mentally stable people would never bother to research, history tends to define every great game by its one or two memorable plays. The Amida Brimah put-back will register as the games enduring memory for obvious reasons, but I’m more interested in the part of the play people don’t talk about: the Napier drive that preceded it.

Despite Kevin Ollie’s pervasive passion and dedication to work, there generally comes a point in every season when the thousands of hours of recruiting, developing, and media relations becomes immaterial and millions of dollars hinge on whether a group of twenty-year-old kids can execute. Likewise, all of Ollie’s infectious charisma and public relations success came attached with the sobering unknown of whether the guy could coach. Last year, he proved that he could. But coaching a program like UConn entails proving it way more than once, and down three with 49 seconds left in the NCAA Tournament…that’s when cynical minds wanted the guy to prove he knew what the hell he was doing.

To briefly regurgitate what happened: Napier receives the ball at the top of the key, about four feet behind the three point line. From right to left, Boatright, Daniels, and Giffey – three capable three point shooters – are stationed along the three point line, and their defenders stay glued to their chests. Amida Brimah – being guarded by Kanacevic, St. Joe’s lone paint defender on the play – bolts to Napier’s left side to set a ball screen. But, as soon as Kanacevic runs parallel to Napier on the hedge, Napier attacks the right side of the basket, ignoring the ball screen. Due to the way the floor is spread, Napier is able to get to the basket without the help defense ever entering the picture. And although he misses the layup – defended solidly by Bembry – Brimah has Kanacevic beaten by a step, and he corrals the miss, scoring, drawing a foul, and eventually tying the game.

Here’s the point: Napier didn’t simply ignore the ball screen by his own discretion, it was a planned decoy designed to pull the help defender away from the basket and open up a driving lane for Napier. And even though Napier missed the layup, Kanacevic had already stranded out to the right wing expecting to hedge hard on the pick-and-roll, which allowed Brimah to acquire inside rebounding position and tie the game.

This isn’t a particularly revolutionary play design by any means. In similar situations – down three, enough time on the clock for a quick two – most coaches will run some variation of the same concept, forcing the help defense to vacate the paint and creating a favorable one-on-one match-up. Some coaches will simply run five out; others will go through with the pick-and-roll and try to draw a switch. More importantly, though, is the Huskies composure, preparation, and mental strength in the final minute of a due-or-die game. This is a theme that would reverberate through the proceeding five games, and it’s quite clear the confidence and commitment of Kevin Ollie manifested itself in his players.

A game that figured to be an innocuous seven-ten match-up at the onset of the tournament will be remembered as one of the games of the year, both for its implications and its quality of play. Hindsight will surely end any lingering doubt as to who the better team was, but sometimes defeat can attract as much admiration as victory, and this was one of those occasions. St. Joe’s undoubtedly played over their heads, hitting various low-percentage jump shots throughout the game, executing every last wrinkle up Steve Martelli’s sleeve with near flawless precision, and converting at well above their average from the line (20 of 27). St. Joe’s played about as well as they could possibly play, but some combination of poor luck, athletic inferiority, and opposing coaching sent them home with a gut-wrenching loss to the eventual champs. It should not be lost, though, that UConn also played extremely well. Their team defense was not quite dialed in to championship form, but they shot 11 of 24 from three, 18 of 20 from the line, and turned the ball over just nine times. Sports can be a soulless bitch sometimes, and one of these teams being sent home with a loss is enough justification of that. There are some games, though, that will be watched dozens of times for years to come, and this is one of them. Everybody who was a part of this one – from the players, to the announcers, right on down to the fans – will remember this game.

 

[Kitaman]

Dude very impressive!

I must ask, do you have a wife/girlfriend or car, or money?

 

[Pudge]

OMG ... that's a lot of work

 

[James]

lots of good stuff champs. an interesting thing to note was the lack of depth on st joes. I'm pretty sure they played 5-6 players all years and thats it. you talk about how cohesive and focused they were, i think this played a major factor. They were flawless in the first half, but they lost energy, and as the game unwound in OT our fresh legs would reign supreme. This is also probably why they stunk defensively.

Kromahs burst of energy was key, and it kinda reminds me of something to look forward to this year. Purvis is around the same size and will be playing full time, he's going to be able to offer up some steller defense vs opposing 2s. Our defense should be top 10 this year again.

 

[UChusky916]

Read every word. Wow, Champs... great stuff. POST MORE!!! We need more posters like you and less like Chapwilvaug. Will you do this for the other tourney games? Would love to read your thoughts, very articulate.

You did not seem to mention St. Joe's depth and how the game-flow of fouls called kept them in the game. They basically went 6 deep until Kanacevic fouled out. The way the game was called early was frustrating to say the least. UConn didn't really get to the line until late in the 2nd half and OT, otherwise the free-throw disparity would have been ridiculously in St. Joe's favor.

Retroactively, can you imagine the state of this board if we lost this game in the opening round? Idiot posters here would have been calling for Kevin Ollie to be fired. Isn't it funny how one 3-point play can change so much? Thanks Amida!

 

[Pudge]

OK ...

I will agree that Kanacevic was the KEY St. Joe's player ... while Langston Galloway is an amazing offensive scorer (and Bembry was terrific) ... I still will maintain that Halil Kanacevic also threw the ball away a half-dozen times. And on the Amida Brimah play - as he had done several times before - Kanacevic got lazy: he did not beat Brimah to the spot for the rebound. I saw him take a lazy path several times in this game. When someone drove, he would not move his feet. He positioned for the next play. Having said that, they ran good offense all game through him. So, those stats are not nearly as impressive as the productivity of the Hawks on offense.

 

[Gurleyman]

I think you're missing some possessions, for example:

12:55 – Napier blows by Bembry once again and this time the help does not arrive.

11:22 – Boatright...

A minute and a half of basketball went by...and nothing?

Clearly you decided to take the escalator, analysis-wise.

 

[imno1]

I'll just rewatch the game. It will be quicker

 

[WeAreUCONN]

Brimah with the put back and foul, is all i even remember from that game.
I was so freakin' Nervous and Worried, throughout that entire game.

Thank God for BRIMAH.

 

[uconndoit]

"Unfortunately, Napier is unable to finish over Bembry, and the ball careens towards the baseline. Somehow, Brimah keeps the ball alive, dribbles once, maintains his pivot, and spins over his left shoulder for the and-one heard ‘round the world."

FTFY

 

[CL82]

Great staff Champs. I have 1 nit to pick. St Joes are the Hawks. The Owls are another Philadelphia team, Temple. I was actually planning on finding the time to watch this game over the weekend. I actually am looking more forward to it now. Thanks for a great post!

 

[champs99and04]

Great staff Champs. I have 1 nit to pick. St Joes are the Hawks. The Owls are another Philadelphia team, Temple. I was actually planning on finding the time to watch this game over the weekend. I actually am looking more forward to it now. Thanks for a great post!

Can't believe I messed that up after watching the game so many times. I might have to hire you as my editor.

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

Well done!

 

[CL82]

Can't believe I messed that up after watching the game so many times. I might have to hire you as my editor.

Probably not considering my post begins with Great staff Champs, instead of Great stuff Champs.