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And clawed our way out. First thing is we need to right the D. Looks like its not an overnight fix. Coaches (and players now) have a nice opportunity to earn their money.
We've been in deeper holes
- Thread starter MexicoHusky
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Yes but DC has moved on to the NBA. It's going to be a challenge to say the least.
Go Huskies.....
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It's doable.
Stop gambling for steals and play straight up. Make rotations easier for the bigs.
Communicate at a high level.
Invest time in the scout.
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When is the last time, given all the expectations internally and externally, that we’ve been in a deeper hole?
We have perhaps a max of 5-6 loss margin left to play with before we crash and are bounced from the tourney. The “too low, lift up” alarms are already sounding in the cockpit. This is headed for an epic disaster, unless Hurley recovers with some brilliant adjustments.
The lack of any offensive rebounding…
The lack of any boxing out on defense..
The hucking up of 3’s with no one there to rebound..
The bigs jogging back on Defense and getting beat time and time again…
The fact Solo Ball gets to play 1 on 3 so much as he is the only one back…
The slow speed they play at on the perimeter…
The missing of layups…
The lazy reaching in on defense…
These comments on Mahaney… I dont’ want to hear it…
This is a team issue we have right now…. The whole team…. The whole coaching staff..
Now the one variable that no one is talking about is this was just one tournament… Maybe we just got in a funk and when it rains, it pours…
The only positive I see is we can stop the 3-peat discussion and start from the bottom - time to take a fresh look at the season. Who on this roster is a contender v pretender, we will find out in the weeks to come! Earn your spot! It might be time for the quick Jim C hooks.
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2010 and 2012 were really bad. This feels like those seasons. Chemistry is off, players don’t look connected at all. Massive leadership issue. Hope I’m wrong.
HuskyHawk
The triumphant return of the Blues Brothers.
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The shooting percentages against us aren’t even really fully explained by poor defense, because I‘m not sure guys shoot any better in warm ups. Some of this is every team giving us their A++++ game. Meanwhile we have great shooters who can’t buy a bucket.
Agree on playing more straight up D, just make things harder on the other team. Stop allowing so many easy drives to the rim. But the 3s going in at a staggering rate may stop on its own. Communication needs to be much better.
They have time to work on it and one more tune up game. Then they need to execute.
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In my opinion, playing 3 games in 3 days really hurt us after we lost a very tough game to Memphis. These tournaments are great when you have momentum, and very very hard when you don’t. It’s almost impossible to make huge changes to guys’ roles or get guys to buy in to a different defensive scheme with basically no practice time to work on execution.
We’re better than we showed in these games, we just have to see how much better.
We’re better than we showed in these games, we just have to see how much better.
gtcam
Diehard since '65
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These kids have played hoops their entire lives. They don't need days of practice to tweek things on the D. The issue is desire and deciding to get out there and play with intensity and smart. Most of these kids are great athletes but haven't brought their desire to be gamers. Partly, maybe, because of all the offseason 3 peat talk and the entitlement atmosphere but that starts at the top.
3 games is 3 days? Crap, these kids have played multiple games the same day for 3 days in a row through AAU tournaments and prep tournaments.
Enough of the excuses - maybe this team has no real gamers besides Nowell and HD - I hope that's not the case, if it is, Dan Hurley and the staff need to look at some recruits with different lenses.
It's still November - the next 4 game stretch will reveal so much .
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If rotations are bad on defense, which they very obviously were, the best way to iron that out is through getting as many reps as possible. Since we can only play 5 guys at a time, that happens in practice.
nelsonmuntz
Point Center
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When was UConn in a deeper hole than this in November and still crawled out to have a successful season? I think the team can come back, but this would be the deepest hole a UConn team ever crawled out from in one season.
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Or we need to stop digging.
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There are things most of us see that can help. I'm sure the coaches see it too. They just need a little time to implement it.
2016-2017
Well remember this was one tournament that was over in a flash.
I would be more concerned if this was over a longer period of time. We will get a chance to see if this was a blip or a cause of deep concern real soon.
It isn’t even December yet, and may of these guys playing together for the first time.
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I actually feel better about the 5 spot long term than I did before Maui. I saw enough extended flashes of skill and athleticism that I think Tarris Reed Jr is going to be a monster sooner rather than later. Hurley is loyal and for team culture reasons, he probably felt like he needed to let this current center rotation play out but I think by January or February, Reed Jr will be entrenched as a starter performing at an all-conference type level. If that happens, Johnson can go back to being my rim running, 12 to 15 minute change of pace guy any day. That fixes one big problem.
The thing that has really shocked me so far is that none of the sophomore wings have stepped up on defense. I really thought after playing with Castle and seeing just how important he became in March, that these three would be competing to be the next shutdown guy. The fact that they are all absolute turnstiles on D is so disappointing. Hopefully that's something the coaches can fix in short order.
The thing that has really shocked me so far is that none of the sophomore wings have stepped up on defense. I really thought after playing with Castle and seeing just how important he became in March, that these three would be competing to be the next shutdown guy. The fact that they are all absolute turnstiles on D is so disappointing. Hopefully that's something the coaches can fix in short order.
Never big on Ball and lukewarm on Stewart. SJ is at best a backup/change of pace.
He also say: “man who walk through airport turnstile sideways going to Bangkok.”
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When was UConn in a deeper hole than this in November and still crawled out to have a successful season?
That team never crawled out of the hole to have a successful season. They finished 16-17.
O.K. now you made me feel way worse!
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I’m almost 100% certain there isn’t another team that practices as hard as we do. I don’t know what happened in Maui, but it spiraled out of control quickly and we lost 2 games by a total of 3 points with some infuriatingly poor end of games calls/no calls that went against us. The Dayton loss was just a kick in the nuts. The good news is we have AK as our team leader and I trust him and the coaching staff to figure this out quickly. We have 10 guys capable of playing big minutes, maybe we just need to find which 7 or 8 of them actually WANT it. Too much depth and too much competition likely makes it harder to gel.
ninety-nine
a figure in hiding
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I'd argue that UConn was in a pretty big hole just two years ago, when they lost 6 of 8 games in January and went from looking like an early-season powerhouse to looking like an NIT team after falling to 16-6. But they turned it around enough to get a decent tourney seed, and then rolled through the field of 64 with their eight losses not weighing them down at all. This three-game Maui set might just be a snapshot if they win, say, 8 of their next 10 and go into the first Creighton game at 12-5. A lot will depend on whether they can fix an issue or two before the Baylor game on Wednesday.