We need to stop playing ring around the rosey outside the 3 pt line

[nelsonmuntz]

You can't be serious?

Unless you are up 10 points with 3 minutes left, running the clock down for the sake of running it down is the equivalent of setting up a press on your own offense.

 

[BGesus4]

Of the people who think they can coach a team better than Hurley I’d be interested in how many high major wins they’ve coached a team to, or even low major for that matter. Remember, having watched UConn basketball on TV since you were a kid doesn’t count.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Of the people who think they can coach a team better than Hurley I’d be interested in how many high major wins they’ve coached a team to, or even low major for that matter. Remember, having watched UConn basketball on TV since you were a kid doesn’t count.

Of all the defenses of Hurley, this is stupidest. By far.

You should find something else to do. The Internet is not for you.

 

[Doctor Hoop]

Definitely part of it. More defensive attention and more awareness/tracking of him. He's also been guarded by mostly smaller guys the last few weeks, and he doesn't shoot it well when a guy is up in his grill. And he's too big and slow to go by those smaller guys. And he can't post them up. And he's not a great passer. And so he can't do anything.

Polley’s worth really comes spotting up on the break and when the ball is worked inside out or reversed quickly, emphasis on quick. We don’t do either of those things well right now.

 

[BGesus4]

Of all the defenses of Hurley, this is stupidest. By far.

You should find something else to do. The Internet is not for you.

So... zero

 

[willie99]

How do all those other teams in the NCAA manage to win without a likely first rounder? Must be luck.

Experience, chemistry, tons of other variables

Why do so many teams never win anything?

Maybe you can tell me why Whaley disappeared. Did Hurley coach him down after coaching him up?

 

[jdb50]

Many of our pregame drill weave exhibitions resulted in Cole being double teamed and pushed to the half court area. They had no respect for anyone setting a halfassed pick and then semi rolling. So now we are down to 12 seconds on the shot clock with a hope and a prayer over and over. We will lose quite a few games doing this until Bouk gets back.

 

[MuchoDogYears]

Cole is the same height as Taliek and Shabazz - the #1 and #3 all time assist leaders. Height isn't the issue

Really? My eyes disagree strongly, regardless of what any program height chart says.

 

[polycom]

How stupid are you

we’ll be thinks Carlton is a star so that should tell you what you need to know

 

[UConniki]

How stupid are you

Its Nelson ... do you really have to ask

 

[Mhuskmayne]

You try running this offense with these players!

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

So... zero

Gee, you liked his post. Why didn't he like yours?

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

This fan base managed to flip the switch from beaten down to incredibly spoiled faster than I thought possible.

Is that a bug or a feature?

In a similar vein, I consider the various threads that speculate on whether certain players have the NBA in their future, but haven't yet seen anybody jump to lumping Jackson and Akok in with Bouknight as our three(!) guys with surefire next level skills who aren't currently playing, so, in a strange way, we've still got more headroom on your general point.

It's easier for me to stick with "It's late January and we just got to the 10th game of season 3 in a rebuild" and relax.

 

[HuskylnSC]

I understand the frustration with the offense. The team as constructed is lacking in athleticism that is found in top 15 teams. Polly does nothing to get open. He stands with his hands open for a pass shuffling his feet so they are always set that he might get the shot off quicker. You can guard him with a chair. He doesn't have a quick release and needs the time to square up. Someone mentioned Cole's height as an issue. His height is ok but he can't elevate and is not a quick player and seems to lack physical strength. He seems to wind up his passes from the top and even if they get there the defense has time to respond.

Now imagine if Bouk wasn't hurt and AJ was healthy and integrated into the O and D. Think about a healthy Akok. How would you like to start a team of Whaley at 5, Akok at 4, AJ at 3, Bouk at 2, and a confident Gaff at 1. Sanogo/Martin/Cole/Adams/Carlton off the bench. Where could that team take you.

Now I suggest we give the coach a break. Stop the criticisms and realize the situation is that we are not putting top 25 athletes on the floor. They play hard an don't hang their heads. They don't quit. Coach instills that in them but he can't make them quicker faster higher.

 

[EBonz30]

I don’t believe this is matter of x’s & o’s- the current roster structure does not have players who can get by their given man & penetrate the lane to create shots for others- It is really the biggest issue that this offense has had the last few games- that’s why you are seeing a lot of contestant shots at the end of the shot clock.

I think we just have to hope & pray the Dark Knight returns sooner rather than later!

 

[Kitaman]

All I know is that Martin needs to be an option, and given the green light. See what he can do while waiting on Bouk. I see him hanging around the perimeter and when he gets the ball his first instinct is to pass it off. Not sure what that's about, because he is a slasher. The man guarding him gets rest on UConn possessions. I don't think that's necessarily on Hurley, could be Martin's personality. But damn, Martin needs to know that its his time now, right now he is Bouk's replacement (not Adams or Polley).

If he's not ready to step up, or fill the shoes, so be it. But make him prove it and have him stop deferring.

 

[HuskyHawk]

That ring around the rosey is another UConn tradition for years. To include our bigs playing defense on top of the key which leads to drives and ack door.

What it leads to is a waste of time. That’s it. Nothing else. I think I’ve seen maybe 3 backdoor cuts run by UConn in the last six years. And every team we play knows it, so none of them do anything but sag off the screen and defend the lane. Which, by the way, is what we should be doing.

We don’t send cutters, we rarely move the ball crisply enough to beat the defense. We did it once yesterday and got a wide open 3 for Gaffney. The only way this offense works well is with a tall distributor getting the ball just above the foul line. They converge and he kicks out left or right, feed the post or shoots. Only two guys can really do that well. Jackson and Akok. Whaley tries and isn’t bad.

 

[Kenny11]

I’m not a Xs and Os guy but are opponents just scouting us better so Polley isn’t getting looks? Seems like he had more open shots a few games back.
However FT was improved so there’s that.

It’s just paying attention to the scouting report and it’s much easier to do when you don’t have to worry about Bouknight.
-stay on polley’s hip while he’s running through screens
-crowd him when he catches
-do not under any circumstances lose him in transition
-don’t help off him when guys like Cole, Adams, gaffney are dribbling around.

 

[freescooter]

Many of our pregame drill weave exhibitions resulted in Cole being double teamed and pushed to the half court area. They had no respect for anyone setting a halfassed pick and then semi rolling. So now we are down to 12 seconds on the shot clock with a hope and a prayer over and over. We will lose quite a few games doing this until Bouk gets back.

I actually thought the 3 games after Bouknight got hurt, well 2 1/2, we move the ball well. A couple of the games before and in the first half at Marquette our offense was pretty much dribble and pass around the perimeter the get it to Bouknight with 12 seconds left and let him go. Now we seem to be back to that approach without him. Waste time until there are 8 seconds left on the shot clock then heave a contested 3 or drive into traffic.

one thing that seems to have happened is that teams are defending Polley now. He rarely has had an open 3 the last 2 games. Taking the air out of the ball hasn’t helped him I don’t think. But nobody else seems to figure out how to take advantage of the situation where his man basically stays with him so isn’t free to help, switch either.

 

[gtcam]

Of the people who think they can coach a team better than Hurley I’d be interested in how many high major wins they’ve coached a team to, or even low major for that matter. Remember, having watched UConn basketball on TV since you were a kid doesn’t count.

This is ridiculous
Because someone hasn't coached doesn't mean they don't know the game?
I've coached over 25 years at high levels in soccer and I've met many people who never stepped on a pitch who taught me many things and had wonderful insight.
Coaching at Wagner and URI doesn't mean you can be automatically successful in the NBE or beyond.
What some people are upset about is the lack of creativity on the offensive side of that ball that Hurley's teams have shown - even URI guys I know have stated this about Hurley. He's a rah rah guy who can recruit which is great but only a part of the job. You don't need 5 AAs or world class athletes to create a offensive scheme. What you do need is the ideas and know how to teach it. Using lack of talent is an old school excuse. Can Hurley do it?- I don't see why not

 

[Hurleyman216]

This is ridiculous
Because someone hasn't coached doesn't mean they don't know the game?
I've coached over 25 years at high levels in soccer and I've met many people who never stepped on a pitch who taught me many things and had wonderful insight.
Coaching at Wagner and URI doesn't mean you can be automatically successful in the NBE or beyond.
What some people are upset about is the lack of creativity on the offensive side of that ball that Hurley's teams have shown - even URI guys I know have stated this about Hurley. He's a rah rah guy who can recruit which is great but only a part of the job. You don't need 5 AAs or world class athletes to create a offensive scheme. What you do need is the ideas and know how to teach it. Using lack of talent is an old school excuse. Can Hurley do it?- I don't see why not

You guys should all watch a little more college bball. About half the teams run some version of the weave a large percentage of time if the other team is playing man-to-man defense. It puts the defense in a position where they have to constantly switch, it allows a drive to the hoop to start with a full head of steam rather than from a standstill (I don’t know if there’s a single person in the country who can check Bouknight in this scenario). It also can set you up for side screens or back door cuts. It’s essentially like 1 non-stop pick and roll and you run it rather than standing around doing nothing because it makes the defense work and creates space for a 3 pointer on the handoff if they don’t hedge out. Oh yeah, it’s also what the Golden State Warriors ran quit a bit while winning all of their championships. Every college team and NBA team is running some version of a pick and roll offense. There’s nothing wrong with the sets we’re running, we just don’t have enough offensive threats without Bouk out there.

For those of you complaining please go watch another basketball game and you’ll see they all run the same stuff. The times we didn’t run the motion weave offense yesterday led to a lot of turnovers or forced shots. Hurley might not be the best in game coach yet, but he knows exactly what he’s doing. Everyone used to crap al over JC’s offense as well and that seems to work out pretty well for us. At the end of the day defense wins championships. If you don’t know that yet, you should go back and re-watch all 4 of our National Championship games.

 

[ToolzieFan]

Looking at his team’s historical offensive and defensive efficiency numbers really reinforces the idea that Hurley is an excellent defensive coach who has also had a few decent offensive teams. Some of the criticisms here seem valid. At the same time, he can’t convert easy twos for the team, which is probably our biggest issue. I’d love to see us generate some more easy buckets while Bouknight is out, but we also weren’t designed to be an offensive juggernaut without our potential All-American.

Hurley’s teams have almost always had a slow adjusted tempo. For those who watched his URI teams, is this what his offense usually looked like? We’re they ever a finely-tuned offensive machine?

 

[Greathusky]

It's a prevent offense trying to buy time till Bouk's return.

 

[MuchoDogYears]

You guys should all watch a little more college bball. About half the teams run some version of the weave a large percentage of time if the other team is playing man-to-man defense. It puts the defense in a position where they have to constantly switch, it allows a drive to the hoop to start with a full head of steam rather than from a standstill (I don’t know if there’s a single person in the country who can check Bouknight in this scenario). It also can set you up for side screens or back door cuts. It’s essentially like 1 non-stop pick and roll and you run it rather than standing around doing nothing because it makes the defense work and creates space for a 3 pointer on the handoff if they don’t hedge out. Oh yeah, it’s also what the Golden State Warriors ran quit a bit while winning all of their championships.

Good stuff, thanks. The issue though is that they run the weave without purpose. The purpose of the weave, as with any offensive set, is to score off it.

This team runs the weave, handing passes off, with no intent other than to run the weave. The weave is designed to be a process towards a goal. And the goal is to score, not to successfully backpass in a weave.