We are officially in our January slump

[Eric K]

In 23-24, I recall squeaking out wins over bad Xavier, butler and nova teams on the road in January. Then end of the month hit and the roll began and that team had a fairly decent close to the year.

Assuming the same is coming now.

 

[Chin Diesel]

We're not going to win the national championship with a demoted reduced role Solo, we need his scoring and shooting. He's a much better player than Jaylin and Ross, he just needs to play his way out of this.

Problem is if Ball doesn't come out of his slump the team isn't winning a championship.

The calculus is what is a higher probability- Ball coming out of his slump and teams plays to its potential, or, lineup shake up with roles changing, and team plays to its potential.

One thing I've learned is we fans rarely get it right in January.

 

[CTBasketball]

Problem is if Ball doesn't come out of his slump the team isn't winning a championship.

The calculus is what is a higher probability- Ball coming out of his slump and teams plays to its potential, or, lineup shake up with roles changing, and team plays to its potential.

One thing I've learned is we fans rarely get it right in January.

We need two things to occur. Stewart needs to keep making winnings plays, which in these dog days of January are crucial.

And we need Solo to find his shot AND pick it up on D. He makes way too many losing plays for every time he makes a good one.

Both need to happen if we’re going to hit our ceiling.

 

[UConn94]

My feedback to a non-UConn gambler this year. Bet against UCONN and the spread in Big East games this year and bet with us in the tournament. Hard to maintain elite level of play night in night out when we are the marquee game on everyone's schedule. Take the W and the $$ and enjoy the freight train that is coming when it matters most in March

 

[Umami Zen]

Radical idea-We're winning despite not approaching our A game yet. Think these guys are tired and playing through minor injuries after 5 games in 13 days. They seem to level up or down based on the opposition. I do believe that they are gaining confidence re: closing time and winning plays that will benefit them in BET/March Madness single elimination games.

Dan has plenty of tape to review and to tweak a few things prior to Nova game. Get healthy and put up some shots this week.

 

[boog204]

For a team that has so much depth the starters play an awful lot of minutes. Karaban does not have to play 35- 38 minutes a game.

Going into last year, the story was that we could go 10-11 deep with all of our depth. We were basically 8 deep and that’s counting Aidan as a valuable bench piece.

This year, same story with preseason questions about how we’d get enough minutes for everyone and people doing their ridiculous minute breakdowns and having AK getting 28/gm because player X needs minutes. Maybe we need to face reality and realize that our bench is nowhere as good as we think. There’s a huge drop off with Smith and Reibe and you still, after three years, have absolutely no idea if Stew or Ross will show up.

 

[superjohn]

Problem is if Ball doesn't come out of his slump the team isn't winning a championship.

The calculus is what is a higher probability- Ball coming out of his slump and teams plays to its potential, or, lineup shake up with roles changing, and team plays to its potential.

One thing I've learned is we fans rarely get it right in January.

The team isn't winning the championship by giving an inferior player his starting spot and reducing his role.

 

[RuffRuff]

And we need Solo to find his shot AND pick it up on D. He makes way too many losing plays for every time he makes a good one.

Good way to put it. I feel like his individualized net would be on the lower side of late.

 

[superjohn]

Going into last year, the story was that we could go 10-11 deep with all of our depth. We were basically 8 deep and that’s counting Aidan as a valuable bench piece.

This year, same story with preseason questions about how we’d get enough minutes for everyone and people doing their ridiculous minute breakdowns and having AK getting 28/gm because player X needs minutes. Maybe we need to face reality and realize that our bench is nowhere as good as we think. There’s a huge drop off with Smith and Reibe and you still, after three years, have absolutely no idea if Stew or Ross will show up.

AK played too many minutes last season and he's playing too many minutes this season.

 

[RuffRuff]

AK played too many minutes last season and he's playing too many minutes this season.

Largely because we can’t pull away from teams. He’ll always stay in close games.

 

[AllHusky]

I'd like to see Solo win 6th man of the year in BE. What that entails is what we need him to do. Be a microwave on offense, which he can do, and not hurt us on Defense, which he has shown the ability to do. I guess that give Ross or Stew the start. I'd have Solo in fairly quickly, unless one of those 2 is having a career day.

 

[superjohn]

Largely because we can’t pull away from teams. He’ll always stay in close games.

His position was supposed to be our position with the most depth with Jaylin and Ross being able to slide in and even possibly Reibe if we went double big for a couple minutes. Here we are once again with AK by far leading us in minutes despite nobody thinking he's our best player.

I think the team would benefit from a fresher AK over an AK who is always out there even when he is playing poorly.

 

[RuffRuff]

His position was supposed to be our position with the most depth with Jaylin and Ross being able to slide in and even possibly Reibe if we went double big for a couple minutes. Here we are once again with AK by far leading us in minutes despite nobody thinking he's our best player.

I think the team would benefit from a fresher AK over an AK who is always out there even when he is playing poorly.

We had this discussion quite a bit in the early season, hoping Danny would tame down the AK minutes. He is at 33.5 this year versus 35.9 last year. Whether he's our best player or not, Hurley trusts him.

The one player that seems to really be falling off recently is Smith - generally feels like a poor fit for the system as an overdribbler who drives into chaos without a plan far too often.

 

[Waquoit]

We're not going to win the national championship with a demoted reduced role Solo, we need his scoring and shooting. He's a much better player than Jaylin and Ross, he just needs to play his way out of this.

You've always overrated this guy. You said he was a better 3 point shooter than Jordan Hawkins. He hasn't been much better that the two J's lately. Hurley gave him a lot of rope yesterday and he didn't respond.

 

[superjohn]

You've always overrated this guy. You said he was a better 3 point shooter than Jordan Hawkins. He hasn't been much better that the two J's lately. Hurley gave him a lot of rope yesterday and he didn't respond.

This guy?

Solo was a better three point shooter than Hawkins last season. Hawkins has never shot 40% from three in his college or pro career.

This is how I viewed them going into the season...

 

[RuffRuff]

You've always overrated this guy. You said he was a better 3 point shooter than Jordan Hawkins. He hasn't been much better that the two J's lately. Hurley gave him a lot of rope yesterday and he didn't respond.

Have been surprised by those who have, I realize there is an unconditional nature to it. I like the kid, not sure I could build a better looking player(looks like a hoops assassin) and it's easy to fall in love with the flash of his shooting when it's falling because it's really pretty, but he's always had a knack for spacing out and not responding to action the way one should, or really dumb errors, or getting blown by on defense. The play against PC where he was face forward against a PC defender and simply dribbled the ball right to the guy takes the cake. The anti-Cam.

I agree we need a much better version of him to make a run - it's felt like ages since we've seen anything that looked like the Marquette game last year. I used to feel like it was always going in given how nice it looks off his hand, not I'm expecting a miss. He's got about a month to figure it out, or else I think the staff has to make some adjustments in how they use him. You cannot expect him to figure it out in March if he's had a whole season of 28% shooting from 3.

 

[gsmooth]

Largely because we can’t pull away from teams. He’ll always stay in close games.

AK was visibly tired yesterday. Perhaps AK should be subbed out earlier in games to keep him fresh. I don't think Solo should be removed from the starting line up, but maybe reducing his minutes will help keep him fresher. How much more should Ross and Stewart play? I don't know. The only issue is Stewart and Ross have to make sure they contribute and not play tentatively or passively which would lead to a big drop off when AK and Solo get subbed out. Everyone can see Hurley has not trusted the bench and to put it bluntly, the bench hasn't given a reason for him to trust them.

 

[gsmooth]

Have been surprised by those who have, I realize there is an unconditional nature to it. I like the kid, not sure I could build a better looking player(looks like a hoops assassin) and it's easy to fall in love with the flash of his shooting when it's falling because it's really pretty, but he's always had a knack for spacing out and not responding to action the way one should, or really dumb errors, or getting blown by on defense. The play against PC where he was face forward against a PC defender and simply dribbled the ball right to the guy takes the cake. The anti-Cam.

I agree we need a much better version of him to make a run - it's felt like ages since we've seen anything that looked like the Marquette game last year. I used to feel like it was always going in given how nice it looks off his hand, not I'm expecting a miss. He's got about a month to figure it out, or else I think the staff has to make some adjustments in how they use him. You cannot expect him to figure it out in March if he's had a whole season of 28% shooting from 3.

The problem is if he has any good shooting games left that it will feel like an outlier rather than something we can expect.

 

[Woof]

We're winning close games, our conference opponents are giving us their best shot, but we're simply not playing well

5 for 26 from three, we need to make more, many more.

We missed 6 of 8 FTs down the stretch, all by our best free throw shooters. Last game Reed was absolutely awful from the line. If you want to win a championship, you have to hit 80% from the line. Especially down the stretch

We're frustrated, I know the staff is frustrated, I know the players are the most frustrated, but still we are WINNING.

They're going to wake up. January will end, we're just not playing like a championship team this month

Arrogant and spoiled I suppose

I felt like this post was very reasonable and, frankly, a very optimistic way of viewing what we are seeing. As some have hypothesized, our tough practices could have the team hitting a wall. It is actually the most positive and rational way to claim why "there is nothing to worry about". To say they are playing great would be flat out delusional. But the rainbows and unicorn farts crowd just HAD to shit on this post.

Is it good that we are still winning these games? Of course. And while the, Ref infused, losses in January 2023 were frustrating and concerning, my eyes tell me that this team is not playing as well as that team was AT THIS TIME. But, as willie said, January will end. And we just don't know what the team will look like then. It will be better, but how much better? It may be better enough that they will be getting these close wins against the best teams. MAY...

 

[Tenspro2002]

My feedback to a non-UConn gambler this year. Bet against UCONN and the spread in Big East games this year and bet with us in the tournament. Hard to maintain elite level of play night in night out when we are the marquee game on everyone's schedule. Take the W and the $$ and enjoy the freight train that is coming when it matters most in March

It's been working. I'd actually take it a step further.

Live-bet against us against the spread when we get an early lead. Yesterday it was -15.5 after 6-0, predicated on the fact that we'd run away with the game. Savvy fans know we haven't been doing that.

In March, out of conference, we actually might.

 

[NickDanger]

I don’t want only 1 loss going into the NCAA Tournament. No team has won it all with less than 2 losses since the 1975 Indiana team. A few teams have entered the NCAA Tournament with less than 2 losses but none of them won it all. Including the supposedly invincible 1999 Duke team.

I don’t think the Huskies need to go undefeated the rest of the way to get the overall number 1 seed, or just any 1 seed, because I don’t think anyone else is going through the season without a few more losses.

This is just pure chance. There is no curse on having only one loss!

 

[NickDanger]

The problem is if he has any good shooting games left that it will feel like an outlier rather than something we can expect.

Why does it matter if it feels like an outlier, as long as he has some good shooting games?

 

[HooperScooper]

All of these posts about reducing Ball's minutes make me feel even more confident that he's going to break out in a big way pretty soon. It's my Inverse Boneyard Theory and it usually works.

 

[gsmooth]

Why does it matter if it feels like an outlier, as long as he has some good shooting games?

Outlier(s) for a good shooting game is better than it not occurring at all. But it matters because if it is an outlier it means it's not something that can be depended on. This team won't reach their peak without Solo's perimeter shooting. The offensive schemes are predicated on having consistent perimeter shooting and Solo hasn't really shown he can do that this year. His wrist is probably bothering him more than he is letting on, but regardless his shooting has been underwhelming.

 

[uconngb]

I'd like to see Solo win 6th man of the year in BE. What that entails is what we need him to do. Be a microwave on offense, which he can do, and not hurt us on Defense, which he has shown the ability to do. I guess that give Ross or Stew the start. I'd have Solo in fairly quickly, unless one of those 2 is having a career day.

Ross can no way, no how start.

 

[RuffRuff]

Ross can no way, no how start.

Hes gone back to old Ross after time off

 

[AllHusky]

Ross can no way, no how start.

Stew can if the matchup is right. Short stint, 5-8, bring in Solo. Ross will get going in a few games. Give him a little time. Took 2+ years to get him to be effective, he deserves a little leash. Use of NEVER on the Yard is a guarantee that it’ll be replaced by EXCEPT. We are going to need all hands on board the later the season goes. Solo and Ross gotta be effective, as Stewart is now and they both have been at times. Need it when we need it.

 

[DRBackup]

Except in the NCAA Tourney of course

Wrong, of course. The 24 team - possibly the best overall UConn team - shot 69-92 for the tournament for 75%

Good ? Obviously. Over 80% ? No

 

[RuffRuff]

Wrong, of course. The 24 team - possibly the best overall UConn team - shot 69-92 for the tournament for 75%

Good ? Obviously. Over 80% ? No

That team could have shot 50% and still run away with it.

 

[Gurleyman]

In 2014 we shot 200% in the tournament. At least it felt like that.

(It was 88%, and we shot 78% for the season.)

I remember I intentionally manipulated a stat for the purpose of eliminating a couple outliers - but if you counted “clutch foul shots” as margin less than 10 points, last 5 minutes, and the outcome still in doubt, we were 44-45 at the line in the tourney. The one miss was Bazz splitting 2 up by 6 to Iowa State with about 1:30 left.

Those standards eliminate 3-4 harmless misses against Nova when we were up double digits, and Boat missing the last one against St. Joe’s in overtime when we were up 8 with 5 seconds left (ie game no longer in doubt). Those misses damage the stat if you look at just the last 5 minutes.