Ugly Stats - positive impression

[60'sfan]

Our rebounding, free throw shooting and three point shooting were all pretty bad. Phillip Nolan, Amida Brimah and Rakim Lubin combined for one rebound. Duke went to the line 34 times and hit 25 while we went to the line 13 times and hit only 7. Both teams were pretty bad from the perimeter with Duke at 5 for 19 while we were just 3 for 12. Ryan Boatright was 3 for 5 and the rest of the team was 0 for 7.

Masked in the bad stats were great games from Ryan and Kentan Facey, who may have played his best game of the year with 9 boards and 14 points. Daniel Hamilton did not have a great game but he showed great potential. I have no doubt the he will be a star.

For us to lose by just 10 points to a Duke team loaded with talent was very impressive to me. I thought we played solid defense for most of the game and were very competitive. We need to find some perimeter shooters and get much better from the free throw line. We were out-talented last night, not out-played. I am confident that we will get better. I'll bet Duke is hoping that this is the last time they see us.

 

[dogpause]

I agree, this game had a lot of positives, but what's as encouraging is that the negatives are all things that can and will improve. Rebounding, shooting and assists are such glaring weaknesses that they will become the focal points. We will get better in those areas; measurably and visibly better. But this game also showed that we can compete with the best, which has to be an inspiration for improvement. If we mostly take care of business the rest of the way I don't anyone will be thrilled to play us in the NCAA's regardless of our seeding.

 

[Kitaman]

We played UConn ball for most of the game. Tenacious, never giving up and always in a position to win. Turnovers sealed our fate, as Boat was orchestrating one of the the biggest victories of his UConn career. Sure Facey contributed mightily but Boat was working on his signature game.

We had some bonehead turnovers, defensive lapses and silly fouls all taking away momentum or us getting to the mountain top. Dook may have had the better players, but we were equal or better effort wise for a significant portion of the game, unfortunately we don't know how to close or finish for that matter so far.

If this team can produce this type of effort and limit mistakes we have something to work with. Add some more offense and we have a winner.

 

[Rico444]

Love what Facey gave us. Think he's gonna be our glue guy moving forward. I loved Bilas' enthusiasm for his rebounding prowess -- Kentan Facey is a BALL HUNTER!!!

 

[60'sfan]

I've always like Bilas. He seems to have an appreciation for Uconn. However, while he was singing the praises of Facey and even more so, Ryan Boatright, two commentators on ESPN were selecting the best point guards in college basketball. They never mentioned Boatright. Idiots!

 

[RichZ]

A few things stood out to me.

Coming into the game, Ryan was shootng 80%+ from the FT line. Okafor was shooting somewhere in the low 50s. If both of them had shot their averages from the FT line, we would have had a real shot to win.

Brimah fouled out on a play where he evidently hit Okafor in the forearm with his chest. But to be fair, Boat got treated pretty well by the ref's too.

When Purvis has time to square up and take an open 3, he has a nice arc on the shot. Completed a nice one on a play that was being blown dead. When he hurries it, his shot is very flat.

More than anyone else, DHam looked like he was playing scared. He seemed to refuse to take a 3, and on his drives, instead of going TO the rim, he went to the edge of the lane. Plus, he dribbles the ball too far away from his body, and seems kind of lackadaisical when not being directly pressured. Had the ball tipped away from behind by guys he wasn't paying any attention to a couple times last night. Then again, maybe he just has poor peripheral vision.

Omar sure didn't seem anxious to test his three.

Not sure what to make of Brimah's performance, or lack there-of. After being called for the two quick ones, I think he was afraid to make any kind of contact, and played kind of timidly.