We honestly need to go with the obvious (Boat)

[Excalibur]

The failure to run an effective halfcourt offense is on everyone. We can't create an open shot for anyone. That said, if we're not going to be able to rely on half court sets, we're better off relying on Boatright to penetrate and feed Drummond off of that penetration. Right now Shabazz is no threat at all to take anyone off the dribble.

 

[sparky]

JL is flailing around and is not grounded. JC is hopelessly loyal and can't bring himself to pull the trigger on the Bazz/Boat switch. AO needs a hand transplant and so does TO. Drummond can dunk but his free throw liability is killer. We need to run, but we need to stick the open 's. Against a zone we suck because we are not hitting the open shot. TO is best at the elbow anywhere else and he's a mess waiting to happen. If we hit the open shots the stuff at the elbow and under will open like spring blossoms. In the meantime they are awful to watch.

 

[DoctorBombay]

My nephew is a UConn grad, so all during the game last night I kept needling him with texts asking "why isn't Boatright in the game", "where is Boatright"? He was having a "cyber-kiniption", if there is such a thing.
Seriously, I have no idea why Calhoun took Boatright out & kept him out. The offense started great & then Napier came in & you could "feel" the air slowly go out of the team. Also, its obvious JC wanted to feature more shots around Lamb- so you can now add indecision to Napier's growing lack of confidence.
I have no idea what the root causes are- but sometimes a HOF'er can be too stubborn for his own good. (see; Boeheim, James A.)

 

[bobbygt]

My nephew is a UConn grad, so all during the game last night I kept needling him with texts asking "why isn't Boatright in the game", "where is Boatright"? He was having a "cyber-kiniption", if there is such a thing.
Seriously, I have no idea why Calhoun took Boatright out & kept him out. The offense started great & then Napier came in & you could "feel" the air slowly go out of the team. Also, its obvious JC wanted to feature more shots around Lamb- so you can now add indecision to Napier's growing lack of confidence.
I have no idea what the root causes are- but sometimes a HOF'er can be too stubborn for his own good. (see; Boeheim, James A.)

It was discussed in other threads that JC kept him out because he had two fouls at the 13:00min mark and JC normally sticks to his strategy of sitting the player for the rest of the half.

I think what is going on with Napier is similar to Jardine last year. I seem to remember a ton of Syracuse fans wishing that he would transfer or just leave because he made mistake after mistake in so many games. Now, I would say no uconn fan wants SN to leave (I think everyone really, really likes him), but so many are getting frustrated because he is the pg and the team has hit a monstrous wall.

Now, Jardine is good because Joseph is still there, Triche is there, and Waiters has emerged as a mini star, so all he has to do is play mistake free ball, and be the floor leader.

SN doesn't have that luxury. Lamb is the closest thing to Joseph and Waiters, yet he now seems passive and cannot seem to find his niche; Boatright missed a ton of games and so their compatability in big games is still tbd; every other player on the team lacks confidence in some area, which puts more and more stress on Shabazz because they eventually start deferring, whether it's because they missed a shot and lose their confidence or because they are worried about getting pulled.

 

[DoctorBombay]

Thats a great comparison between last year's Scoop & this year's Shabazz. Frankly, the emergence of Waiters & Triche, & even the Frosh MCW, has made it easier to sit him when he makes the inevitable "Scoopid" play.
As for Napier, the kid is a fine player- but as you pointed out, his options are limited. That in no way excuses JC's decision to KEEP Boatright on the bench, as the game got outta control. Whats wrong with having Boatright learn how to play with the 2 fouls- thats a good in-game lesson, no? Sometimes you go with what works, and damn the torpedoes.
Also, Oriahki is an enigma, but I wouldn't worry about Lamb...he'll go 6-8 on threes against us. Book it!

 

[ctchamps]

Not that it makes any difference but SN came into the game with UConn up 13-9. The lead closed to 13-11 when RB subbed out. UConn went back up 15-11 when RB subbed back in. The score closed to 15-14 when RB picked up his second foul. The momentum had switched prior to RB's second foul. There was no 6-8 point lead when Shabazz came in as the original poster claims.

Jason Clark scored the first seven out of Georgetown's 9 points while RB was guarding him going 4-5. He was having his way with Ryan. The remainder of the game Jason went 1-4. Shabazz essentially shut him down which may be the reason he played more minutes than Ryan in the second half.

In that period in which Georgetown extended their lead to ten points in the first half, Thompson and Sims did the scoring. Thompson schooled DD and NG and Sims scored over AD. This is where the breakdown on defense occurred.

On offense during that run for Georgetown, Jeremy couldn't buy a shot going 0-4, TO and DD fumbled the ball twice. The team only forced up one shot during that time. I'm not getting where the problem was on Shabazz.

Check this link if you prefer evidence rather than the need to find someone for scapegoating. It's the official UConn site and it gives the play by play of the game.

http://www.uconnhuskies.com/sports/m-baskbl/stats/2011-2012/game21.html