Vital and Gilbert

[BrassBonanza]

It's weird. I feel a bit badly for the guy because he never should have been a starting player at UConn but there really is no excuse for him still doing all this crazy stuff. You can see his bad decisions from a mile away, you can see he's going to either dribble it right into his defender at the end of halves and the end of games and he still does it over and over. It's four years of this, maybe stop letting him do it.

What is worse, is that Danny asked him to run the point for so much of the game. It is doubling down on bad coaching. If your going to sit AG for the 2 fouls, CV cannot be the answer. Give me BA or Gaf at the 1 - they need the experience and I doubt they would have turned it over at the same rate. To be fair to CV, DH is asking him to do something he really should not ever have to do.

 

[HooperScooper]

I agree about Gilbert not being the same, and that he can contribute in many ways. But he is a horrible shooter, so don't shoot. KO was the same type of point guard, but he was very self-aware, and was selective on the shots he took,

I was just about to dispute that he's a horrible shooter by referencing last year's statistics as opposed to taking the statistics from only 9 games but when I looked at last year's stats, 38.1 FG% overall and 33.6 3PTFG%, I had to take back what I was going to say. 38.1% isn't very good. 33.6% on threes is marginal, not terrible though.

 

[UCDaveD]

I was just about to dispute that he's a horrible shooter by referencing last year's statistics as opposed to taking the statistics from only 9 games but when I looked at last year's stats, 38.1 FG% overall and 33.6 3PTFG%, I had to take back what I was going to say. 38.1% isn't very good. 33.6% on threes is marginal, not terrible though.

Also, what’s with him and those long twos? The statistical worst shot in basketball, yet he took a bunch of them. So frustrating.

 

[Jack]

Yeah, but did our two best "point guards" make any other players around them better last night?

No way! That's why everyone is upset. Hustle is a given for PG at this level. But both AG & CV acted like selfish high school chuckers - again - playing out of control. The talent, consistency, leadership & basic skills are not there. DH cannot teach that at this stage of their college careers, only punishment & less PT.

 

[mauconnfan]

Yeah, but did our two best "point guards" make any other players around them better last night?

No way! That's why everyone is upset. Hustle is a given for PG at this level. But both AG & CV acted like selfish high school chuckers - again - playing out of control. The talent, consistency, leadership & basic skills are not there. DH cannot teach that at this stage of their college careers, only punishment & less PT.

8 assists for AG so yeah he did, made some great decisions when we made our run early. But he turned into the PG we didn't need trying to do too much rather than making everyone better. He was really good on the defensive end though but most people neglect to look at that. But he needs to be more like the 3-4 prior games which had us believing he finally got it. Vital killed us when we had the lead early and made our run, AG got his 2nd Vital gave IU a shot he was dreadful. Instead of being up 16-17 points we're basically in a game lost a big lead without AG on the floor. Adams and Gaffney can't be the guys with the ball they proved that against solid defense. Bouk showed he has a ways to go.

So less PT for AG will kill us instead it needs to be the AG we need on the floor or we can look to 2020-21 period there is no replacement. There's no selfish chucking going on there just not making shots or taking good ones. DH is still the coach and while I agree some of this cannot be coached he still needs to rope them both in. He did a horrible job with Vital in the first half, way too much rope he was out of control in maybe his worst 5-6 minute stretch of his career.

This is simple, need them both to play better but know we do NEED them both. And they need to be under control and mature like they can be.

 

[imno1]

Here's what I want if Coach is getting me a holiday gift. Vital and Gilbert less shots, Bouk, Polley, Akok more shots.

 

[superjohn]

Here's what I want if Coach is getting me a holiday gift. Vital and Gilbert less shots, Bouk, Polley, Akok more shots.

Exactly, I don't see why this is so hard. Gilbert can be damn good if he would just breakdown his man and look to these guys and coach simply needs to draw more for those three players. They should be taking the bulk of our shots along with Josh.

 

[Waquoit]

Here's what I want if Coach is getting me a holiday gift. Vital and Gilbert less shots, Bouk, Polley, Akok more shots.

Exactly, I don't see why this is so hard.

It's really that simple.

 

[Candyman]

Exactly, I don't see why this is so hard. Gilbert can be damn good if he would just breakdown his man and look to these guys and coach simply needs to draw more for those three players. They should be taking the bulk of our shots along with Josh.

AG has to hit that little pull up jumper or anyone guarding him will play off him and not allow the drive and dish. He just was off on the 3 he took and they were all off balance. When he squares up he hits.

 

[GHSWolverines]

Vital is a senior in name only. He has the BB IQ of a freshman.

in high school?

 

[Griggs]

Both CV and AG want to be the next Kemba Walker.

 

[David 76]

Look, CV isn't all bad. He is inconsistent. There will still be games where we love what he does.
Same with AG. He can be the floor general we desperately need.
They don't need to go away. They just need to be pulled and spoken to when they forget the team's goal. And that will mean a certain amount of living with the kids.
But even if they stumble it has to happen enough to take the crazy edge off of our starters. Otherwise, the results will be like the nasty losses

 

[UConnDad]

Al needs to stop dribbling through the double team. Pass the ball, someone is open. Christian should be the inbounder under the hoop. Jalen looks so afraid to make a mistake. If Bouk could play with more purpose he'd free himself up. These next few games we need to work on some things.

 

[mauconnfan]

Al needs to stop dribbling through the double team. Pass the ball, someone is open. Christian should be the inbounder under the hoop. Jalen looks so afraid to make a mistake. If Bouk could play with more purpose he'd free himself up. These next few games we need to work on some things.

AGs attempts at dribbling through the double teams tick me off and he’s about 33% successful which sucks I agree.

 

[pj]

What is worse, is that Danny asked him to run the point for so much of the game. It is doubling down on bad coaching. If your going to sit AG for the 2 fouls, CV cannot be the answer. Give me BA or Gaf at the 1 - they need the experience and I doubt they would have turned it over at the same rate. To be fair to CV, DH is asking him to do something he really should not ever have to do.

I wonder if CV and Hurley have an agreement that CV will get chances at the point, to develop combo guard skills. He's too short to be a successful pro shooting guard and needs those skills, but it's hard to develop them without playing experience. A little bit of time at the point generates film and experience that is worth its weight in gold for player development.

Hurley is a program builder and a lot of that is getting your players to successful pro situations, and then having them come back and tell recruits, look what coach did for me. It's not just the NBA players, helping that vast next tier to $200k jobs overseas rather than $20k jobs at the car wash is important. You don't want players telling recruits, "Coach never gave me a chance."

Reality is, seniors get chances that freshmen don't, because freshmen have time to develop, seniors need to learn and be showcased now.

That said, if Gaffney or Bouknight were showing more in practice, I think they'd start eating into CV's minutes. CV gets a longer leash because the bench isn't ready.

 

[HuskylnSC]

AG and CV are both getting solid coaching for the first time in a while. During that lapse, bad habits were allowed to develop. These have been elucidated ad infinitum in this post. They are getting good coaching now and when reminded of the preferred way to play, they perform better. For example, DH pulled CV after an egregious 3pt attempt early in the shot clock. CV sat for several minutes. When he returned, his first trip down court, His head was up and on a swivel. It resulted in the Sid Wilson ally-oop slam. I had hope for a moment. But under stress the bad habits returned.

I do not think there is enough time this year to break the ingrained bad habits after 1 year and 9 games of good coaching. We are going to have to live with CV and AG playing hero ball at the most stressful and important points of the game. Several games will be lost because of the overwhelming internal pressure to return to bad habits.

For that reason, IMHO, time to shift to next year. Play the kids

 

[mauconnfan]

AG and CV are both getting solid coaching for the first time in a while. During that lapse, bad habits were allowed to develop. These have been elucidated ad infinitum in this post. They are getting good coaching now and when reminded of the preferred way to play, they perform better. For example, DH pulled CV after an egregious 3pt attempt early in the shot clock. CV sat for several minutes. When he returned, his first trip down court, His head was up and on a swivel. It resulted in the Sid Wilson ally-oop slam. I had hope for a moment. But under stress the bad habits returned.

I do not think there is enough time this year to break the ingrained bad habits after 1 year and 9 games of good coaching. We are going to have to live with CV and AG playing hero ball at the most stressful and important points of the game. Several games will be lost because of the overwhelming internal pressure to return to bad habits.

For that reason, IMHO, time to shift to next year. Play the kids

Can't shift to the kids they aren't ready. I've been a fan a long time and I'm not ready to say screw it let's let Gaffney and Adams handle the ball more because we will be better next year. No way on earth, neither are ready and only one is a PG anyway. There's lots of season left and we saw how much better the team is when AG leads them so we have to rely on him being that guy. AG didn't play hero ball the other night and wasn't awful as most like to believe he just can't make a shot and mind you I know that's not a good thing. But he had 8 assists and played excellent D. The other guy needed to be a ton better and he killed us, but we also need to get him back to who he was last year in order to have success this year. While everyone hammers on these 2 guys I'd wish the actually would watch the last couple games and see what Gaffney and Adams brought to the table, as well as Bouk. Nothing!!!

So please do not begin to think next year it will be very ugly, uglier than the last 3.

 

[HuskylnSC]

Can't shift to the kids they aren't ready. I've been a fan a long time and I'm not ready to say screw it let's let Gaffney and Adams handle the ball more because we will be better next year. No way on earth, neither are ready and only one is a PG anyway. There's lots of season left and we saw how much better the team is when AG leads them so we have to rely on him being that guy. AG didn't play hero ball the other night and wasn't awful as most like to believe he just can't make a shot and mind you I know that's not a good thing. But he had 8 assists and played excellent D. The other guy needed to be a ton better and he killed us, but we also need to get him back to who he was last year in order to have success this year. While everyone hammers on these 2 guys I'd wish the actually would watch the last couple games and see what Gaffney and Adams brought to the table, as well as Bouk. Nothing!!!

So please do not begin to think next year it will be very ugly, uglier than the last 3.

All valid points

 

[pj]

Alterique has historically been a good shooter and his shooting will come back. He's growing as a point guard and his limited college experience means he is still on the steep part of the learning curve. I expect big things out of him.

Vital is probably a completed product at this point.

Bouk and Gaffney have big upsides. I'm not going to second-guess Hurley's methods for bringing them along. He knows them better than I do. He's bringing them along slowly and must have his reasons. But I think they'll be playing bigger roles in March than they are now.

BAdams, no idea where he will end up. He might get passed by Bouk and Gaffney. Or he might pass CV. Really hard to see if his role goes up or down. I hope he breaks through.

We need much better guard play and I think we can hope for big improvements from 3 or 4 of those 5.

 

[jibsey]

AG and CV are both getting solid coaching for the first time in a while. During that lapse, bad habits were allowed to develop. These have been elucidated ad infinitum in this post. They are getting good coaching now and when reminded of the preferred way to play, they perform better. For example, DH pulled CV after an egregious 3pt attempt early in the shot clock. CV sat for several minutes. When he returned, his first trip down court, His head was up and on a swivel. It resulted in the Sid Wilson ally-oop slam. I had hope for a moment. But under stress the bad habits returned.

I do not think there is enough time this year to break the ingrained bad habits after 1 year and 9 games of good coaching. We are going to have to live with CV and AG playing hero ball at the most stressful and important points of the game. Several games will be lost because of the overwhelming internal pressure to return to bad habits.

For that reason, IMHO, time to shift to next year. Play the kids

Well they must be slow learner's because I remember them being on the team last year.

 

[superjohn]

So please do not begin to think next year it will be very ugly, uglier than the last 3.

Please explain your last sentence? I have no clue what it means.

 

[superjohn]

Alterique has historically been a good shooter and his shooting will come back. He's growing as a point guard and his limited college experience means he is still on the steep part of the learning curve. I expect big things out of him.

Vital is probably a completed product at this point.

Bouk and Gaffney have big upsides. I'm not going to second-guess Hurley's methods for bringing them along. He knows them better than I do. He's bringing them along slowly and must have his reasons. But I think they'll be playing bigger roles in March than they are now.

BAdams, no idea where he will end up. He might get passed by Bouk and Gaffney. Or he might pass CV. Really hard to see if his role goes up or down. I hope he breaks through.

We need much better guard play and I think we can hope for big improvements from 3 or 4 of those 5.

Alterique has never been a good shooter at the college level, in fact he's been a terrible shooter.

 

[pj]

Alterique has never been a good shooter at the college level, in fact he's been a terrible shooter.

Others may reasonably differ, but my opinion: I think his college stats are distorted by playing with injuries and poor shot selection. He has the ability to shoot at a high percentage. He shot well in high school. He hasn't had the chance to learn the college game properly and to experience sustained shooting practice with repeatable mechanics. If his health is good, I think his shooting percentages will rise steadily over the course of the season.

 

[Excalibur]

Please explain yout last sentence? I have no clue what it means.

Seems to me he's saying that if we play Adams and Gaffney more at the point, this year, to get them ready for next year, then you're throwing away this season.

That doesn't speak to what you do for a primary ball handler if Gilbert is on the bench due to foul trouble. Your choices right now are Vital (ugh), Adams (strong physically but a weak ball handler) Bouknight (not what you want him doing and not his strength) or Gaffney (struggling early). I think Hurley would have preferred to use Gaffney against IU but he looked particularly overwhelmed. That left Adams or Vital is the only viable options.

 

[mauconnfan]

Please explain your last sentence? I have no clue what it means.

I will slow down and punctuate if necessary sorry it was a sentence of crap I agree. I don’t want the staff to start playing Gaffney and Adams more than AG and even CV in order to begin thinking of the future rather than who we can still be this year. If the staff went that way in their thinking we’d once again be a sub .500 squad. The response was to a post that leaned that way giving up on this years hopes.