Went to game last night

[scrappy2.0]

and let me say that there were thousands of CT people who paid a lot of money and effort to support their team. I dont know how it looked on TV but I have no idea what KO was doing fromlike 13 minutes left. EVERYONE in my section realized--we played with NO center for almost 13minutes!!!!! The entire middle was open and what couldve been a blow away game ended up scary. It almost put a bitter taste in mouth's though we move on. I cannot in any way imagine we will do that again--but what we did was try to match up with Iowa State when what we had was working!!! It was lay up city for them horrible to watch --people may not realize how many points Daniels had in that 2nd half to help us and if Giffey didnt hit that 3 we mightve lost a game and it wouldve been on KO . I guess I needed to express frusteration with a great overall win. But Im still perplexed on what happened --why that game became close--it shouldve been a 25 pt game blowout

 

[Walker11]

ISU was playing 4 guards with a 6'6 guy at center for a lot of the second half. I would have liked Brimah in at the end but he would have been D'ing up Ejim on the perimeter.

 

[Final4 42]

It was the matador defense. Let them run right by you without getting in the way. Usually you see it in the last minute or so of a 10+ pt game, we started it at about the 5 minute mark. It's a good thing we stayed solid at the line and didn't turn the ball over at all.

 

[upstater]

Ollie was playing the odds. They were going to put UConn on the free throw line. 80% free throws trading 50% on 2s, eliminating the possibility of 40% 3s = victory. It was a simple math calculation.

 

[OkaForPrez]

Yep, and Brimah was exposed on back to back plays before he was taken out of the lineup. The Mayor had finally adjusted to getting Hogue the ball on the elbow and having him attack off the dribble. Brimah couldn't guard it so at that point you might as well go for our better offensive lineup with Giff and Daniels and take away the three point line and trade baskets. I don't think Ollie would tell you he was pleased with how easy they were scoring inside, but it was still the right play strategically IMO.

 

[alexd]

Ollie was playing the odds. They were going to put UConn on the free throw line. 80% free throws trading 50% on 2s, eliminating the possibility of 40% 3s = victory. It was a simple math calculation.

Simple math. OK sure. But it caused me and my buddy and I to drink at least an extra beer each coming down the stretch. C'est la vie!!!

 

[LeftCoastHusky]

Giffey's 3 was huge. Without it.... I can't even...

 

[zymurg]

One can see the NBA background in Coach Ollie's choices. UConn has some very good pieces, but the team has some real flaws. Matchups
were key, but there are some tradeoffs. Samuel and Daniels played really well, but Iowa State had some real matchup advantages. Michigan State has better size in the front court, but they can't post their guards as well. Having played Michigan State last season should help UConn
somewhat. Brimah and Nolan will probably see more time against Sparty. Against UVA MSU looked like world beaters early, but the Cavs
defense got them back in the game. Pummeling the obvious with my trusty cudgel, don't get way down, force MSU to play half court, and hopefully in the end game UConn will have the shot makers to pull one out.

 

[itgoeslike]

Maybe with the game in hand somewhat he was resting our bigs for tomorrow's game. We'll need them to play well beyond their BMI.

 

[Mike Honcho]

Simple math. OK sure. But it caused me and my buddy and I to drink at least an extra beer each coming down the stretch. C'est la vie!!!

I would have challenged them at the rim the way they were shooting free-throws (and field-goals for that matter).

 

[patrick]

Yep, and Brimah was exposed on back to back plays before he was taken out of the lineup. The Mayor had finally adjusted to getting Hogue the ball on the elbow and having him attack off the dribble. Brimah couldn't guard it so at that point you might as well go for our better offensive lineup with Giff and Daniels and take away the three point line and trade baskets. I don't think Ollie would tell you he was pleased with how easy they were scoring inside, but it was still the right play strategically IMO.

Yes!
Couldn't have said it better myself!

 

[patrick]

Simple math. OK sure. But it caused me and my buddy and I to drink at least an extra beer each coming down the stretch. C'est la vie!!!

Lol

Me too. Right before Neils hit that shot I ran to the fridge!

 

[UCweCONN]

Is Olander still on the team? His basketball career peaked as a freshman. I thought he could've contributed this game at least as a rebounder.

 

[conn man]

Yep, and Brimah was exposed on back to back plays before he was taken out of the lineup. The Mayor had finally adjusted to getting Hogue the ball on the elbow and having him attack off the dribble. Brimah couldn't guard it so at that point you might as well go for our better offensive lineup with Giff and Daniels and take away the three point line and trade baskets. I don't think Ollie would tell you he was pleased with how easy they were scoring inside, but it was still the right play strategically IMO.

It boggles my mind how some people can't figure this out.

 

[Kitaman]

Ollie was managing the game according to the current situation. They went small, he went small. We were also gassed (at least it appeared so) telling by the bonehead mistakes we were making late.

Late in the game with our lead the clock became our opponent. Ollie can only use the tools in his toolbox and Brimah was not the right tool at that time. In fact he elected to use TSam as his power drill, and that was more effective than Brimah or Nolan.

 

[Strummer]

Maybe with the game in hand somewhat he was resting our bigs for tomorrow's game.

Um dude, no.
The game was never "in hand" until about 18 seconds showed on the clock. Up 14 against a top 10 offense with 15 to go is not "in hand."
AND
NOBODY gets rested for the next game when you are fighting to get into the final 8 - you'd have to be up 30 with 10 to go to even consider it.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Ollie was playing the odds. They were going to put UConn on the free throw line. 80% free throws trading 50% on 2s, eliminating the possibility of 40% 3s = victory. It was a simple math calculation.

That's a great argument for choosing not to play defense with 1 minute to go, when they're already having to foul. It's no excuse for not playing defense with 8 minutes to go.

If Giff doesn't hit that 3, they never have to foul us, since it likely becomes a 2 point game with a minute to go. At that point, the game would have come down to us scoring (plausible) or getting a stop (not happening). That one made 3 likely saved us from overtime and a humiliating defeat.

 

[Pmurph678]

The defensive strategy everyone is referencing started with 4 minutes to go. Up until then Uconn played normal Defense.

 

[intlzncster]

One can see the NBA background in Coach Ollie's choices. UConn has some very good pieces, but the team has some real flaws. Matchups
were key, but there are some tradeoffs. Samuel and Daniels played really well, but Iowa State had some real matchup advantages. Michigan State has better size in the front court, but they can't post their guards as well. Having played Michigan State last season should help UConn
somewhat. Brimah and Nolan will probably see more time against Sparty. Against UVA MSU looked like world beaters early, but the Cavs
defense got them back in the game. Pummeling the obvious with my trusty cudgel, don't get way down, force MSU to play half court, and hopefully in the end game UConn will have the shot makers to pull one out.

While we are flawed, the adjustments to and 'masking' of that fact are a credit to Ollie's coaching. It will be interesting to see what he can do with the one day turn around. I think their game was more draining than ours, but I don't know if that will have any effect. Probably not.

 

[intlzncster]

Ollie was managing the game according to the current situation. They went small, he went small. We were also gassed (at least it appeared so) telling by the bonehead mistakes we were making late.

Late in the game with our lead the clock became our opponent. Ollie can only use the tools in his toolbox and Brimah was not the right tool at that time. In fact he elected to use TSam as his power drill, and that was more effective than Brimah or Nolan.

This isn't getting enough credence as well. Just looking at Bazz on the free throw line, and observing how flat his shot was, you could tell he didn't have too much left in the tank.

 

[businesslawyer]

Ollie was playing the odds. They were going to put UConn on the free throw line. 80% free throws trading 50% on 2s, eliminating the possibility of 40% 3s = victory. It was a simple math calculation.

We were letting them take 2s that they had a 90% chance of making, redo the math.

 

[PacificStorm]

People forget that KO and Hoiberg are dear friends of long standing. Neither one in his right mind would intentionally ever try to humiliate the other on national TV, especially. They both turned down Arizona as recruits after the school had given them an ultimatum: the first to accept the offer will get it. KO then went to Uconn and Hoiberg to ISU, get it?

So on this magical night at the Garden, KO just let his dear friend's team sprinkle some water to grow his growing little seed that he planted while at the same time exasperating the Las Vegas oddsmakers. I do not want to believe that KO and Hoiberg secretly bet on this close result behind our backs. No secret sinister pact involved. Just playing it by ear, baby.

 

[J-dog]

It was a strategy that had to be driving Jim Calhoun crazy!

 

[ecasadoSBU]

Simple math. OK sure. But it caused me and my buddy and I to drink at least an extra beer each coming down the stretch. C'est la vie!!!

is that really a problem?

 

[RichZ]

We were letting them take 2s that they had a 90% chance of making, redo the math.

Our chances of getting 2 at the FT line on the ensuing possession were better than their chances of hitting twos. The ONLY sequence it bit us on was when we gave up 3 offensive boards on one possession.