very good D in the second half

[husky99]

Much better

 

[EricLA]

Said it in another thread, but we all know this team has flaws. Sometimes it takes halftime adjustments to figure out what the "problem" was, and that seems to be the case today...

 

[Peacefrog]

USF tightening the screws on defense a bit here too. Let's if we can get some sharp ball movement for good looks.

 

[AstarIsBorn31]

Uconn has clearly been a 2nd half team. Thats why we have to have our top defense in these 1st halfs. Didnt really have it tonight but I believe we can fix that.. Its mental and we have a great coach to fix that... Offense should keep getting better but this is def a team you can say defense will transition to offense.. We hit a groove when we get stops and get a little swagger on offense...

 

[Stinger92860]

I thought Omar deserved and earned more minutes for the 2nd half.

 

[caw]

I thought Omar deserved and earned more minutes for the 2nd half.

He's played very well the past 4 games.

 

[JLock819]

I thought Omar deserved and earned more minutes for the 2nd half.

He was not happy coming out after that steal on the long pass...didn't get back and was way down the bench. But ya, he's earned some extended minutes, but hard to fit all 5 guards in with Cassell getting some run.

 

[Stinger92860]

He was not happy coming out after that steal on the long pass...didn't get back and was way down the bench. But ya, he's earned some extended minutes, but hard to fit all 5 guards in with Cassell getting some run.

Cassell was 1 for 6, he must be shooting about 20% on the year.

 

[CallMeBruce]

Cassell was 1 for 6, he must be shooting about 20% on the year.

He's getting there.

 

[HooperScooper]

Cassell was 1 for 6, he must be shooting about 20% on the year.

25% overall. That ain't good.

17-67 overall, 25%.
8-39 on threes, 21% (yikes!)
8-28 on twos, 29% (double yikes!)
15-19 on FT, 79%

While 67 shots isn't a huge sample size to make a rash judgment, if he continues to shoot under 30% then he really shouldn't be playing. Maybe just in late game situations when the team is winning for his steadiness with the ball and his good free throw shooting.

 

[selles]

25% overall. That ain't good.

17-67 overall, 25%.
8-39 on threes, 21% (yikes!)
8-28 on twos, 29% (double yikes!)
15-19 on FT, 79%

While 67 shots isn't a huge sample size to make a rash judgment, if he continues to shoot under 30% then he really shouldn't be playing. Maybe just in late game situations when the team is winning for his steadiness with the ball and his good free throw shooting.

It was nice to see him step inside the arc to nail a 2 point jumper last night, hopefully he'll start doing that a bit more. It's fair to have general concerns about Cassell, he hasn't played well overall and he's definitely not the most athletic player. I get it.

But it's really odd that he's being subjected to this wave of criticism from the board after last night's game. Cassell was very good over the last several minutes of the first half. He ran the offense, passed well, showed a great understanding of offensive spacing, and got into the lane for good shots (and the bigs delivered on the offensive rebounding opportunities that created). He was a huge reason why we went into halftime with the lead. The expansion of the lead after halftime was mostly because guys started doing what Cassell had demonstrated was possible - getting into the lane for short jumpers.

It was by far his best performance for us and the first real promise I've seen him show since the exhibition games. Hopefully he can build on it.

 

[tentoes4rings]

It was nice to see him step inside the arc to nail a 2 point jumper last night, hopefully he'll start doing that a bit more. It's fair to have general concerns about Cassell, he hasn't played well overall and he's definitely not the most athletic player. I get it.

But it's really odd that he's being subjected to this wave of criticism from the board after last night's game. Cassell was very good over the last several minutes of the first half. He ran the offense, passed well, showed a great understanding of offensive spacing, and got into the lane for good shots (and the bigs delivered on the offensive rebounding opportunities that created). He was a huge reason why we went into halftime with the lead. The expansion of the lead after halftime was mostly because guys started doing what Cassell had demonstrated was possible - getting into the lane for short jumpers.

It was by far his best performance for us and the first real promise I've seen him show since the exhibition games. Hopefully he can build on it.

Excellent post. I was also very encouraged when he passed up that three that he probably would have clanked and put it on the floor for a shorter jumper and conventional three point play. Despite his shooting line, I thought his game management to end the first half was very good and allowed Boat to get some much needed rest.

 

[Gurleyman]

Excellent post. I was also very encouraged when he passed up that three that he probably would have clanked and put it on the floor for a shorter jumper and conventional three point play. Despite his shooting line, I thought his game management to end the first half was very good and allowed Boat to get some much needed rest.

Funny thing was it was a happy accident. Boat was waiting at the scorers table with about 3:30 left in the half and there wasn't a whistle until the weird Omar foul (they never showed it - thank goodness they weren't in the bonus). Then they finally had the under 4 media timeout and came back for 4/10 of a second. Had there been a whistle at any point, he'd have come in (probably for Cassell, but no way to know). But we played well in that stretch, so it worked out.

 

[Waquoit]

He was not happy coming out after that steal on the long pass.

That's a good sign. In the last month he's gone from not wanting to go in to not wanting to come out.

 

[champs99and04]

Cassell definitely played well last night, which was good to see, but there are four guards playing better than him at the moment, so it's tough to justify him playing too many minutes right now. I think he'll play a bigger role next season.