UNC le W ThoughtZ™

[RichZ]

1. Another slow start due to poor shooting.
2. After his breakout performance the other night, JoeyC is back in his lane.
3. How are we being outrebounded by these guys?
4. 7 minute mark in the half, we finally started looking like UConn.
5. And then we weren't. UNCW sees Joey as the weak link on D, and they're taking advantage of it. Especially Thomas.
6. Sub in Hawkins for Joey and the bleeding stops.
7. And Hawkins goes on an offensive tear.
8. Sanogo and Hawkins combined for 28 of our 40 points at the half.
9. Still a little behind on the boards, but we take a 10 to 2 advantage in assists into the half.
10. 16 minute mark, Alleyne dribbled into trouble, then tried for the spectacular play when Karaban was open in the corner, then got beat on D and fouled Thomas. A pretty bad 10 seconds for him.
11. Ajax and Hawkins seem to have gotten in tune with each other in a big way while they were both out.
12. Game has gotten out of hand for UNCW with about 14 to go. They're getting chippy, and somebody is liable to get hurt.
13. I swear, it seemed like the refs called a foul on us EVERY UNCW possession from 14 minutes to 6 minutes. At least it felt that way to me.
14. Amazing for Jackson to have as big an impact on the game as he did, while only scoring 1 bucket.

 

[Chin Diesel]

#2??????? Calcaterra had 6 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and played around 20 minutes? What is you expectation for "his lane"?

 

[ucp990411]

I believe he meant that his defense wasn’t very good. They attacked him when he was in.

 

[RichZ]

#2??????? Calcaterra had 6 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and played around 20 minutes? What is you expectation for "his lane"?

"His lane" is being a fair to middling player on offense and a serious liability on defense.
Against Buffalo, he was on fire offensively -- enough to outweigh his defensive inadequacies. That's why he played 32 minutes in that game.
But against UNCW, he wasn't contributing enough on offense to make Dan Hurley keep him out there getting burnt on defense, which is why he only played 18 minutes. Actually, the way Thomas was lighting him up, he probably shouldn't have had that many minutes, but I think Hurley wanted to see if he would get hot from 3 again. He didn't.
Against BU, he played 22 minutes, and made one of three treys and one foul shot for 4 points. Stonehill, 21 minutes for 7 points.

 

[mauconnfan]

"His lane" is being a fair to middling player on offense and a serious liability on defense.
Against Buffalo, he was on fire offensively -- enough to outweigh his defensive inadequacies. That's why he played 32 minutes in that game.
But against UNCW, he wasn't contributing enough on offense to make Dan Hurley keep him out there getting burnt on defense, which is why he only played 18 minutes. Actually, the way Thomas was lighting him up, he probably shouldn't have had that many minutes, but I think Hurley wanted to see if he would get hot from 3 again. He didn't.
Against BU, he played 22 minutes, and made one of three treys and one foul shot for 4 points. Stonehill, 21 minutes for 7 points.

Strange defensive player is Joey California. He has nice quickness not slow at all definitely but gets burnt often. As far as last night though in his defense Thomas lit up Newton and Diarra a few times as well.

 

[Palatine]

JC brings offense. That's his job. That will be his job all year. If you want him to be a shut down defender, you are in for a disappointment. A good coach uses players to take advantage of their strengths and minimize their weaknesses. That's what Hurley is doing with Joey.

 

[Waquoit]

JC brings offense. That's his job. That will be his job all year. If you want him to be a shut down defender, you are in for a disappointment. A good coach uses players to take advantage of their strengths and minimize their weaknesses. That's what Hurley is doing with Joey.

Sometimes the Yard harps too much on what guys aren't good at and neglects what guys are good at. Joey California is currently in the barrel. I finally "get" ThoughtZ, though. It's what you read if you want to prevent irrational exuberance.

 

[RichZ]

Sometimes the Yard harps too much on what guys aren't good at and neglects what guys are good at. Joey California is currently in the barrel. I finally "get" ThoughtZ, though. It's what you read if you want to prevent irrational exuberance.

Sometimes, I can't contain my enthusiasm. Yes, I'm a pessimist at heart. But I get excited by the play of bigs and point guards.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

JC brings offense. That's his job. That will be his job all year. If you want him to be a shut down defender, you are in for a disappointment. A good coach uses players to take advantage of their strengths and minimize their weaknesses. That's what Hurley is doing with Joey.

In past years, I've joined others in getting excited by early looks at transfers who stepped up a level in competition, thinking initially of Antoine Anderson and Tarin Smith, more so than Shonn Miller and RJ Cole.

I liked Joey C. at the intrasquad scrimmage, and I've liked him in these opening games. He labors to move his feet quickly enough on defense, but he plays with belief that he belongs on the court. If stronger competition limits his effectiveness, so be it. For now, he's looking like a good pickup and I'm rooting hard for him.

 

[caw]

I think we just take Joey as an upgrade to Polley and leave it at that.

I mean Joey is basically that shooter off the bench with better (or at least more willing) passing and rebounding. Also more steals. Sure he gives up height but Polley never played big.

Just for comparison:

Polley had a total of 56 assists in five years at UConn, or 11 assists a year on average. Joey has 10 assists so far in five games. To be fair Joey turns it over a ton more also. Both things to monitor as he should have less of a distributor role with Jackson/Newton being primary ball-handlers and Diarra/Alleyne secondary in most lineups.

Polley also only had 256 rebounds in five years, or about 51 rebounds a year. Joey has 19 in five games. Polley had 40 total steals in five years, or 8 a year. Joey has 6 so far.

Polley did block an odd shot and I don't expect that from Joey.

Long term, if it's not a blowout, I expect him to get 12-18 a game filling in as the fifth or sixth perimeter player behind Jackson, Newton, Hawkins, Alleyne and fighting for minutes with Diarra. In really tight games I expect those minutes will drop even further, especially if Johnson comes back and can backup Karaban.

Right now Jackson is needed to backup the four but that means more minutes for Diarra and Joey C backing up 1-3.

The four is probably the weakest spot right now. Karaban has been fantastic but he is still a freshman and Jackson is his best backup right now which isn't ideal. Johnson would sure shore up that possible weakness with his length and athleticism.

 

[RichZ]

In past years, I've joined others in getting excited by early looks at transfers who stepped up a level in competition, thinking initially of Antoine Anderson and Tarin Smith, more so than Shonn Miller and RJ Cole.

I liked Joey C. at the intrasquad scrimmage, and I've liked him in these opening games. He labors to move his feet quickly enough on defense, but he plays with belief that he belongs on the court. If stronger competition limits his effectiveness, so be it. For now, he's looking like a good pickup and I'm rooting hard for him.

I thought he played very well -- including a couple defensive efforts -- last night.

 

[Stinger92860]

Strange defensive player is Joey California. He has nice quickness not slow at all definitely but gets burnt often. As far as last night though in his defense Thomas lit up Newton and Diarra a few times as well.

I thought his D was much better last night, squaring up and keeping in front of his player better. He is not a great on on one defender, but thats not his job. Plus he will have AS, DC, and Andre backing him up. He also had a few nice rebound inside with with the trees.

 

[Stinger92860]

The four is probably the weakest spot right now. Karaban has been fantastic but he is still a freshman and Jackson is his best backup right now which isn't ideal. Johnson would sure shore up that possible weakness with his length and athleticism.

With AK and Andre at the 4, if that is our weakest spot, then we can be an E8 team. Until we see SJ do it in real games, we can’t count on him. If he delivers, we have a nice problem.

 

[mauconnfan]

I thought his D was much better last night, squaring up and keeping in front of his player better. He is not a great on on one defender, but thats not his job. Plus he will have AS, DC, and Andre backing him up. He also had a few nice rebound inside with with the trees.

He looks to be exactly what they will need from him. The occasional hot hand to open up the lanes for Sanogo/Clingan and a good high IQ basketball player overall. Not always great but 7th-8th man like and steady. Like what I see so far no doubt.