We need a point guard

[caw]

Lol there’s a difference between relying on shooting threes and being capable. Hurley wants to rely on it.

I’m not counting Andre’s dunks that happen because the defender is literally paying him no mind. Which is an adjustment I’ve personally been begging for for months because it’s always been right there. We do not draw up plays to get to the rim outside of Sanogo post ups.

Not wrong, Marquette is a pretty good example of capable but not relying on the three. That said, Hawkins is just that good of a shooter but doesn't really have a handle aside from a straight line drive to the rim.

There are basically only two plays most college teams run that are going to the rim. A post up and a high screen of some sort. UConn doesn't have a guard who consistently can utilize the second option as the driver so UConn mostly uses it as a pass to the rolling big if the three isn't taken. Even with drives the newish wrinkle of sitting Jackson's man in the paint has made it hard for driving guards but has left the three more open for both screener and ball handler. The latest addition of sometimes having Jackson in the dunker's position is one of two main ways Hurley has designed to attack that wrinkle. The other having Jackson run a dribble hand-off for a three for either Karaban or Hawkins (Karaban hit one in the first last game which partially pulled SHU out of that one man zone).

As for post plays, Hurley hasn't run as many straight posts for Sanogo recently since teams started doubling and tripling him in the post. He has adjusted to trying to get Sanogo the ball on the move more often to decent success (if the pass makes it to him it usually works).

I wouldn't say Hurley wants to rely on the three, but he is relying on his best offensive players and one of them is Hawkins who may have the best shooting stroke in college ball.

Creighton is a bit of a unique team in that they drop back with Kalkbrenner and give up the three on those high screens, and with Jackson's man also in the paint the paint was pretty closed off.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

Thanks for being more nuanced in your thinking than most. Everybody wants to put people in 2 boxes, dug in at opposite extreme ends of the argument. In this case it's the "whiners" and "excuse makers." Problem is, most of us are in the middle of these two extreme views. People would never know that though because the loudest most vocal are the extreme, minority views. Kind sounds like something else similar going on in society in this country.

good. we need more clarity, way too much wishy washy going on.
to date, danny's record is sketchy, at best. fill in the data.

 

[ClifSpliffy]

and now, a word aboot 'data.'
this, today, is espn's super duper computer upchuck - UConn #5,
ESPN Computer Releases New College Basketball Top 25 Rankings
but
yesterday, the deciders put out their sweet 16 list - no UConn.
deciders are more important than computers.

data for everyone!
i will say that this seasons various numbers mania is quite entertaining.

 

[dogpause]

The two PGs we had Rashoul Diggins and Jalen Gaffney transfered unexpectedly and Hurley did the best he could with landing a top transfer target in Newton. Newton has had some great games and is overall pretty good. We just have to accept he is going to have good games and bad games.
Diggins has done nothing at UMass, so we might be in a worse boat if he stayed.

Even with Diggins and Gaffney, I think Hurley should have been looking for a starting caliber PG.

 

[Martin]

When most teams lose that many starters, minutes, and points, they have down years. That's the point. We're NOT having a down year, and are quite likely to get the best NCAA tournament seed we've gotten in 12 years. Because of the talent Hurley has assembled and developed.

The portal saved him. Somehow Calhoun got the basketball Gods to smile on Storrs.

 

[August_West]

If you're hung up on losing to St. John's get over it, UNC lost to almost 200 Kenpom ranked Pitt at home last year and went to the title game. Houston lost to ECU and Tulsa their final four year. Teams have bad losses. Its how you respond which matters.

NC finished 2nd place in conference with a 15-5 record. ( in their coaches First year!)

Houston was 25-2

They were both playing great basketball heading into March.

 

[Discograd]

I post about twice a year. Same post. If you do not have an above average or better point guard your chances of winning it all are remote.

 

[Scrutiner]

You’re speaking as if someone handed him these players. He reloaded the roster after losing 2 of its 3 best players. He’s a machine on the recurring trail.

I just don’t see the point in complaining so much when we’re 20-7 and a top 20 team. Enjoy the win. If we disappoint again in March we’ll all be complaining.

The point is the patterns of play, especially late in games, and a lack of leadership on the court and from the HC.
We're accustomed to a Calhoun not a Calipari.
This team should at worst be 22-5.

 

[UCfor3]

good. we need more clarity, way too much wishy washy going on.
to date, danny's record is sketchy, at best. fill in the data.

Nuanced and wishy washy....can't belive I have to explain this but not the same.

 

[dennismenace]

I find it confusing that here we are again saying “ We need a point guard” when in the past two weeks it did seem we had a point guard. There even was a thread for Newton and once again we had our PG. Now he has had two subpar games in a row and once again we are saying we need a pg? Credit was given to Hurley for having the “talk” with Newton that turned him around. Does Hurley need to have that “talk” again? I say there is something dark and sinister going on here. Maybe there should be a thread on “Do we have a point guard or not?” and merge all these PG threads together. I conclude there is something dark and sinister about this board, that being new here, I have only recently come to realize. It is just a hypothesis and probably nothing, but I need to learn more about dissociation and fugue states of mind. Is this the Boneyard or is it the Twilight zone???!

This sounds like a job for the Conspiracy Kitty! Are you there????

 

[AntG168]

Magic Johnson, Oscar Robertson, Isaiah Thomas, Jason Kidd, Gary Payton, Steve Nash, Chris Paul, Bob Cousy, Ernie DiGregorio, Calvin Murphy, Allen Iverson, Sidney Moncreif, Sherm Douglas, Pearl Washington, Dave Bing, Penny Hardaway, Pistol Pete, Steph Curry, Jerry West, Mark Price, Kemba Walker, Kenny Anderson, John Stockton, Randolph Childress, John Lucas, Jameer Nelson, Jaques Vaughn, Jalen Brunson, Trey Burke, Mookie Blaylock, Colin Gillespie, Ryan Archidiacano, Raymond Felton, Chris Corchiani, Ty Lawson, Khalid El-Amin, Shabazz Napier, Steve Alford, Bobby Hurley, Kevin Johnson, Alvin Robertson, Terry Dehere, Terrell Brandon, Luke Ridnour, Eric Murdock, Michael Adams, John Bagley, Greg Anthony, Kyle Lowry, Kris Dunn, Jason Williams (Duke), Johnny Dawkins, Phil Ford, Steve Francis, Ja Morant, Mateen Cleaves, Deron Williams, Trae Young, Damon Stoudamire, Norm Nixon, Ed Cota, Mike Bibby, Henry Bibby, Chris Jackson, TJ Ford, Andre Miller, Rod Strickland, Kenny the Jet, Dana Barros, Chris Smith, Travis Best, Jalen Rose, Scott Skiles, Sleepy Floyd, Chauncey Billups, Darren Collison, Jerian Grant, Lenny Wilkens, Jimmer Fredette, Tim Hardaway, Mark Jackson, Baron Davis, Ron Harper, Mo Cheeks, Gail Goodrich, Fat Lever, Mark Jackson, Runnin' Reggie Theus, Walt Clyde Frazier, Earl Monroe, Davion Mitchell, Jaden Ivey, Dan Dickau, Carsen Edwards, Malcom Brogdon, DJ Augustin, AJ Guyton, Danny Ainge, Derek Harper, Vinnie Johnson, Lee Mayberry

That's well over 100 I think and I could keep going for a while but this is too time consuming.

There’s a couple debatables here already and I only skimmed it( Brogdon, Archidiachano). And you couldn’t

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

There’s a couple debatables here already and I only skimmed it( Brogdon, Archidiachano). And you couldn’t

He could. I don’t even see names like Derrick Rose or John Wall. Point is, AJ Price is no where close to an All Time great college PG. It’s as simple as just looking at the All American list.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Not wrong, Marquette is a pretty good example of capable but not relying on the three. That said, Hawkins is just that good of a shooter but doesn't really have a handle aside from a straight line drive to the rim.

There are basically only two plays most college teams run that are going to the rim. A post up and a high screen of some sort. UConn doesn't have a guard who consistently can utilize the second option as the driver so UConn mostly uses it as a pass to the rolling big if the three isn't taken. Even with drives the newish wrinkle of sitting Jackson's man in the paint has made it hard for driving guards but has left the three more open for both screener and ball handler. The latest addition of sometimes having Jackson in the dunker's position is one of two main ways Hurley has designed to attack that wrinkle. The other having Jackson run a dribble hand-off for a three for either Karaban or Hawkins (Karaban hit one in the first last game which partially pulled SHU out of that one man zone).

As for post plays, Hurley hasn't run as many straight posts for Sanogo recently since teams started doubling and tripling him in the post. He has adjusted to trying to get Sanogo the ball on the move more often to decent success (if the pass makes it to him it usually works).

I wouldn't say Hurley wants to rely on the three, but he is relying on his best offensive players and one of them is Hawkins who may have the best shooting stroke in college ball.

Creighton is a bit of a unique team in that they drop back with Kalkbrenner and give up the three on those high screens, and with Jackson's man also in the paint the paint was pretty closed off.

I agree with a lot of this. The Jackson wrinkles have worked and I hope we continue to build on it and he starts taking being a scorer more seriously. Those 3 dunks minimum are there for him every game. It should be nothing for him to avg 10 PPG.

When he’s constantly talking about how we should take more threes, even in a game like Seton Hall where we found success going to the basket, it kind of shows he’s relying on them. Which is scary because us going cold from three and not being able to attack the rim is exactly what got us beat in the tournament twice.

 

[JohnFSilver]

Well for starters, according to some sites we have the 2 best draft prospects in the league outside of Nova and Whitmore. Add that to the Big East preseason POY and what I’d assume is the best recruiting in the conference AND 18th ranked transfer class and I’d say this team is suppose to be pretty talented.

Hold on.

If anyone is arguing the talent of the team they are nuts.

There are, likely, 5 nba players on this roster.Hawkins and Clingan probabky o my first round picks.

1. Hawkins
2. Clingan
3. Jackson
4. Sanogo
5. Karaban (shooing is worth twice what any other skill is out there. Double its value)

Newton, perhaps his size gets him a summer league look and if his shot improves he can be a player.

Team has a lot of talent, but is missing elite ball handling. .

Team is good. I don’t know what to tell y’all. This isn’t a great team. But it is better than the Shabazz Napier title team and the previous three NCAA tourney teams.

I would be disappointed if this team didn’t hit the sweet 16. After that mark? They have some weaknesses that can be exploited in backcourt. So asking for more than that is being a fan.

 

[caw]

I agree with a lot of this. The Jackson wrinkles have worked and I hope we continue to build on it and he starts taking being a scorer more seriously. Those 3 dunks minimum are there for him every game. It should be nothing for him to avg 10 PPG.

When he’s constantly talking about how we should take more threes, even in a game like Seton Hall where we found success going to the basket, it kind of shows he’s relying on them. Which is scary because us going cold from three and not being able to attack the rim is exactly what got us beat in the tournament twice.

I see where you are going and I do agree to an extent. I also agreed with Hurley that Sanogo needs to take them if he's open on certain plays. His comments about Sanogo pump faking and driving into traffic against Creighton were correct. There wasn't a defender near him to pump fake. SHU played him slightly closer and pumping to drive was the correct play when he did it.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

I see where you are going and I do agree to an extent. I also agreed with Hurley that Sanogo needs to take them if he's open on certain plays. His comments about Sanogo pump faking and driving into traffic against Creighton were correct. There wasn't a defender near him to pump fake. SHU played him slightly closer and pumping to drive was the correct play when he did it.

I can agree that if he’s open to take it, but that’s not what lost us the game and that shouldn’t be the focus. If us winning a game is dependent on a guy who took maybe 5 threes in his career to take more threes it’s a bad game plan. Sanogo seems to have a good feel for when he should take threes as he seems to make them at a high clip. I wouldn’t want to make him take threes he’s not comfortable with because there’s better shots we can get and should be thinking about getting.

He took 7 threes that game which was just as many as Jordan.

 

[slepers]

Everyone agree to disagree close this thread!,,,

 

[Waquoit]

Christian Vital I think?...

Now if you add HIM to this team or especially Jalen Adams, yeah this is the #1 team in the country.

If Christian Vital was on this team we would be #1? Number 1 what?

 

[Waquoit]

Jalen Adams remains the biggest enigma in UConn history.

The guy never got into shape. It's not that tough.

 

[Waquoit]

I remember the head case Jordan Hawkins was last year and I see the confident, productive 2-way player he is today while reading tripe here saying Hurley can't develop players.

 

[AntG168]

He could. I don’t even see names like Derrick Rose or John Wall. Point is, AJ Price is no where close to an All Time great college PG. It’s as simple as just looking at the All American list.

This is my last response on this topic as it’s gotten completely away from the original discussion. But I’ve already pointed out 2 from his first list that are HIGHLY debatable. Y’all don’t think he is. I do. Moving on

 

[JohnFSilver]

He wants to run a 4 out offense with 3 shooters.

You need to shoots 3s to win. Especially if they are open and you are a shooter who can make them at an acceptable percentage.

Take everything you learned about hoops as a kid and ignore it. The 3, at high volume, and anything above 33% is good hoops.

People act like the 3 is bad basketball, and the postup 2 is good fundamental basketball.

Not enough 3s in 1995UConn sweet 16 loss to miss state.

UConn, with Ray “Freakin” Allen, was 10-48 from 2 in that game trying to attack Eric Dampier.

If Ray, second greatest shooter of all time after Curry, did Ray, and shot more 3s (he was 4-10) UConn wins that game.

They took 18 3s and 48 2s that came agaisnt a team with an nba center who played 15 years as a defensive guy.

Huskies go to final four if they shot more 3s that came. They were 7-20 from 3. 21 pts on 20 shots while they scored 20 points on 48 shots from 2.

If the damn 3 is wide open, and you are a 3-point shooter, take the 3.

I watched this evolution first hand in college. Calhoun embraced the 3 in the 2000s with Gordon, Rashad, walker, price. All those guys.

Calhoun was an insanely adaptive coach. He pressured in the 90s, went to man half court defense funneling to his bigs in 2000s, and after Hamilton concentrated on lead guards win can breakdown players (walker, Napier, boStright, price) late in his career. He would say they need to make more 3-pointers (not take. Make).

 

[Jbirdp5]

The people who hate Hurley are just as unrealistic in a negative way as the people who they criticize for sticking up for Hurley. Seems like a lot of the old school vets of this board are the ones being overly critical on Hurley now. The people fawning over how good pikell would have been here just saw him go through a big losing stretch too. Change your minds on him?

 

[uconngb]

When uconn wins, Hurley gets no credit
When uconn loses, he’s to blame

Did I sum up your position correctly?

No, not at all.

 

[ktuck911]

Phil Knight Invitational. PK 85. Our tournament victory

Oh... that was the beginning of the year. Everybody else has now caught their sea legs. How have we faired since then?????