What Changed For Us?

[Mister P]

We started clicking again in late January when the offensive game plan was adjusted from keeping Sanogo on the blocks trying to feed him the ball to getting him setting picks up higher and having him moving more without the ball. At the same time Jackson was not as ball dominant and he was put in a better position to be more of an offensive threat than an offensive liability by running the baseline or flashing to the middle. It seemed there was a lot more off ball movement by players in the offense sets which opened up more scoring opportunities.

Give credit to the coaches for making the offensive adjustments. Sanogo still got his points but by making the changes it put more pressure on the opposing defense to guard multiple options which opened up driving lanes and made kick backs to the perimeter for open three’s. Jackson is a perfect example of getting to at least the offensive foul line in transition and quickly turning around and passing to a spot on the floor where he knew a teammate would be for an open three.
The players are that much more in sync with each other right now and it’s fun watching plays as they develop.

 

[Umami Zen]

Answer to OP?? Self-belief of players and staff.. Man in the mirror

 

[Rocktheworld]

Unfamiliarity and referees

This is exactly how things went before conference play

 

[uchusky32]

Biggest change equipping AJ to handle not being guarded. He has big lanes to drive and offensive rebound.

Second Sanogo's passing when double and triple teamed.

Increasing the unselfish mature this team has. They are playing freely. The ball is moving beautifully.

 

[UConNick]

No big east refs helps too

Actually, fun fact - one of our refs last night was John Gaffney, who I’ve mentioned here before and typically does a ton of Big East games. Even more fun, we’re now I believe 30-4 in games he refs for us over the last decade. He’s a good one!

 

[Rocktheworld]

Biggest change equipping AJ to handle not being guarded. He has big lanes to drive and offensive rebound.

Second Sanogo's passing when double and triple teamed.

Increasing the unselfish mature this team has. They are playing freely. The ball is moving beautifully.

Yup Sanogo was passing beautifully especially this game but also last game too

Was a huge issue all year

 

[BugsyCT]

Coaches can learn & improve too. Hurley has made better adjustments and decisions since the January slump. He also knows his players better as the season goes on and what they can do. I was critical of his in-game decisions during the losses but he’s gotten better with them.

 

[FreeKlaiber]

honestly i think the change came as a result of the mid-season swoon...since then Danny has shown much more adjustment, new offensive wrinkles, better positional usage of AJ (hes an athletic Draymond now, running point forward) and especially defense tweaking as we saw in Arkansas game...also way less emotional outbursts....

as much as some have been critical about x and o's (including me) I think it was Hurley looking in mirror & improving the one chink in his coaching toolbox... the positive change was Danny IMHO

 

[housekeys]

No big east refs helps too

Mostly this. And I have data to back this up. During our six game skid, the free throw attempts (FTA) was 109 - 157 in favor of the opponents! And this is not really a definitive statistic, because you also must consider the more important non-calls.

This is why even when UConn was losing, Vegas (and I) never gave up thinking we are one of a handful of teams that can still win a championship.

BTW, you are not going to get this answer from any reputable member of the staff, DH, or the media. No need to say it, and there are, obviously, some other good reasons. But like I said, it was mostly this.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

UConn had a tough run in its schedule. Creighton at full strength has proven it is one of the best teams in the country. Xavier with Freemantle was a Final Four contender. Those are three of UConn's losses. Marquette was a very good team all season and just had a bad shooting night in the tournament, but was a really tough out for anyone, including UConn. Providence got insane home cooking from the refs all season long against everyone, and was exposed on the road. Those teams are 6 of UConn's losses. At Seton Hall was a bit of "screw around and find out" game that UConn could have handled better, and home against St. Johns was just a stinker of a game. They happen.

I don't think the team has changed as much as the schedule has loosened up. UConn has not faced a team in the tournament that is as good as Creighton or Marquette at home or Xavier at full strength.

 

[TKs]

During the stretch we lost 5 of 6 games, 4 of the loses were to good Big East teams in very tough places to play. My 14 year old son was losing his mind then, I reminded him that in 2011 we finished 9-9 in Big East play and won the Natty.

 

[cordeodato]

Adama learning to love the assist. And actually finding out he has a latent talent for it. Doing this ,radically changed our half court offense. Maybe part of that was learning to trust his teammates

 

[Chin Diesel]

We have gotten WAY better defensively. If you look at our Bart Torvik rankings from Feb 1st to now, we have been the #2 offense and #6 defense. When you look at the entire month of January we were still really good offensively at #12, but our defensive efficiency was an abysmal #88 in the country during that span.

 

[JakeTheDog]

It doesn’t hurt that Karaban is like a sponge and gets better every game. Love the pump fake and drive he’s employing.

 

[husky429]

Actually, fun fact - one of our refs last night was John Gaffney, who I’ve mentioned here before and typically does a ton of Big East games. Even more fun, we’re now I believe 30-4 in games he refs for us over the last decade. He’s a good one!

The fact that I don't know his name is the only signal I need to know he's a good ref. The best ones do their job quietly and without fanfare. Egos and good refereeing don't mix.

 

[ctchamps]

Answer to OP?? Self-belief of players and staff.. Man in the mirror

You definitely fit your handle.

This is the way!

 

[ctchamps]

Coaches making adjustments.
Players making adjustments.
Players buying into the what coaches are asking them to do.
Players executing better!
Players getting more experience!

We have depth. We have players with multiple skills and ability to learn and adapt. This team is focused. We are showing everyone the right way!

I have spoken!

 

[warbler1055]

Mostly this. And I have data to back this up. During our six game skid, the free throw attempts (FTA) was 109 - 157 in favor of the opponents! And this is not really a definitive statistic, because you also must consider the more important non-calls.

This is why even when UConn was losing, Vegas (and I) never gave up thinking we are one of a handful of teams that can still win a championship.

BTW, you are not going to get this answer from any reputable member of the staff, DH, or the media. No need to say it, and there are, obviously, some other good reasons. But like I said, it was mostly this.

There is a penalty for criticizing the refs for coaches and players. I was shocked when UConn suddenly lost 3 games when starting BE play to average teams when they won against Alabama and others ranked teams.

 

[SubbaBub]

They stopped goofing around and started sticking with what works. For all the grievance and mea culpa going around, the team stopped doing what everyone was complaining about.

If you are looking at last night's game as a proxy, AJ stopped jacking up baited threes, Sanogo stopped trying to take on double teams 15 ft from the basket, Hawk got out of his head and just let his talent take over. Newton and AK were just as steady as can be on both ends of the floor. The bench starting hitting open shot without trying to make a film real in their limited minutes. Clingan started his best Thabeet impression by becoming a human eraser and everybody tightened up on defense especially against dribble drives.

They started believing that no one can hang with their A game and then proving it.

It's really a stretch of some of the best basketball in program history.

 

[UConNick]

The fact that I don't know his name is the only signal I need to know he's a good ref. The best ones do their job quietly and without fanfare. Egos and good refereeing don't mix.

Definitely one of the few in the Big East who simply does his job and is good at it.

I only know his name because when I was at UConn during the mid-2010s, he’d often come over to the front of the student section before games and shoot the breeze with us for a few minutes. Incredibly friendly guy.

 

[Frank06830]

Go back to those loses in February. All of them we were tied or slightly ahead at the half and then lost by being out scored in the second half. It was so frustrating And bad sign we couldn match the opponents 2nd half intensity or we couldn’t make adjustments.

This four game run is dramatically opposite that trend. Shows the team has the “5th level”, KO used to talk about and Hurley can anticipate adjustments. Huge wonderful difference. Against Arkansas we scored 46 at half, but in the first 5 minutes of the 2nd half we scored 16 points (128/game pace). We don’t get ambushed any longer starting the second half

 

[10TOES]

Adama gave some insight after the Arkansas game too. Mentioned that the team started to point fingers in the locker room and everyone decided to put egos aside and buy in. A few players said they looked back on the 14-0 start and knew what their ceiling is and that helped them to buy in to team basketball. Bench players understanding the importance of their roles, Adama buying into not needing to play for BEPOY and passing out of double teams, Andre going back to defensive beast, no egos with giving Karaban the last shot and everyone buying into Hawkins being the priority on offense.

HOT TAKE: I don’t think we are here right now without scheduling the OOC the way that we did. It was a sore subject for a lot on the board but the team needed to build confidence with cupcakes going into the PK. If you sprinkle in a few losses before the PK I’m not sure we win that tournament, we saw how fragile the guys were mentally in January. Most teams don’t get past the locker room issues once they set in, especially with veteran transfers with experience being “the guy”. Our team collectively decided to put that aside because they had proof of what they were capable of doing. The OOC/PK85 this year was an important step in the rebuild, Hurley referenced multiple times that he was confident with this team once BE ended and we got into the tournament. The teams confidence starts with the head coach and I always believed those comments were not “coach talk”, Hurley believed it and the team fed off his confidence.

The rest is history, UConn is back. In the future Hurley can point to this season and the lull in January as a reason for his players to buy in. Such a huge pivotal season for UConn and Hurley. Let’s go for #5

 

[IllinoisHuskie]

I think it has to start with the coach, as Hurley is still the psycho we know and love but now he knows when to reign it in and keep composure. That trickles down to players

We’ve figured out the Andre problem on offense (also coaching) and that translates to his defense. Andre is a highly emotionally driven player. If he’s having fun and is confident, that allows him to play at his peak. And his energy and effort is contagious. He is the key

Also not being whistled for a foul every time you breathe in the direction of a player helps. UConn plays best when they’re playing freely and running often. That didn’t happen as much in the BE. For whatever reason.

I think Hurley learned the impact of his emotions when he saw the same behavior in Andre on the floor. He had to change or he couldn’t mentor Andre. The change has had a calming effect on the team as a whole. I think they feel on par with each other rather than crazy coach and his players. It is also having an impact on how others outside the program view him. Much more seriously skilled coach. He deserves a lot of credit for the change. Not easy to do.

 

[Jaker]

Can't understate how important the play by DC, Joey and Alleyne have been. They have given this team incredible depth.