What if it is just January?

[Lafayette]

This thread will self destruct in 3 days.

 

[huskyfever34]

Definitely reminds me of the 2023 team and even the Kemba team where we need to deal with Big East physicality, lots of contact and more whistles with less flow to the games. We seem to struggle then toughen from it and then we have the right mix when things open up in March. I also think you're right that enduring winter in Storrs may be a small factor.

 

[Vancat]

 

[Tenspro2002]

But, as we've seen in years past, how well you trudge through January, has a direct affect on March seeding.

This is why @Creighton is a sneaky-important game for us.

It's absolutely a losable game, but if we win, you can start counting on one hand the number of risky games remaining, and we can probably afford 2 losses (but not more than that) without jeopardizing a #1 seed.

 

[rashadray11]

Losses in January: 0.

 

[storrsroars]

I don't really buy any comparisons to 2023. That year was all about figuring out how to use AJax. If y'all remember, we were playing 4 on 5 in the half court as Andre was often left uncovered as he wasn't a scoring threat. It took a few games to figure out how to better use him, but once that was figured out, it was all over for everyone else.

This year's team doesn't have that issue. It's a number of players who simply can't shoot consistently. And it's the foul shooting. And it's keeping Silas out of foul trouble. The defense is there, and as long as that holds, this team can still go deep. But the other stuff needs to improve to really feel good about our chances.

 

[Teddie1056]

My theory is that Hurley uses the middle of the season to try things. Non con we get to show off our toys. Midseason we are tinkering and trying to develop our team. Endseason is where we put things into overdrive. Tournament is where we dunk on em.

We aren't struggling as much as we are forcing certain types of gameplay. Players have long leashes because we want to see them figure it out. If you just stick to what you already are good at, teams will adjust come tourney time.

 

[AdamaNation]

They seem to be limited to Storrs CT

Let’s keep it that way. On with the mojo

 

[Jaydumo20]

I don't really buy any comparisons to 2023. That year was all about figuring out how to use AJax. If y'all remember, we were playing 4 on 5 in the half court as Andre was often left uncovered as he wasn't a scoring threat. It took a few games to figure out how to better use him, but once that was figured out, it was all over for everyone else.

This year's team doesn't have that issue. It's a number of players who simply can't shoot consistently. And it's the foul shooting. And it's keeping Silas out of foul trouble. The defense is there, and as long as that holds, this team can still go deep. But the other stuff needs to improve to really feel good about our chances.

I think this also coincided with us still viewing Adama as a black hole in the paint. Also, Hawkins was suffering from taking until midway through the second half of games to actually heat up. And Joey C and Naheim completely disappeared as impacts off the bench in that month. I think there were games where Joey didn't even see the floor. In retrospect that January just seems like a part of the process but it was worse than this one.
I recall having several problems.

 

[Iluvsuebird]

How many other teams would want to be in this same January funk like us? 7 wins and no losses. I can think of many.

Arrogant and spoiled ?

yes and yes. and I am guilty of that too.

 

[HuskyHawk]

There used to be a January funk during the Calhoun years, too. Lots of teams go through a spell like this - Syracuse has been in their January funk since like 2019, so it could be worse.

That's probably because it always feels like January in Syracuse

 

[bendm]

don't really buy any comparisons to 2023. That year was all about figuring out how to use AJax. If y'all remember, we were playing 4 on 5 in the half court as Andre was often left uncovered as he wasn't a scoring threat. It took a few games to figure out how to better use him, but once that was figured out, it was all over for everyone else.

Yes but the biggest reason for comparative optimism is that not utilizing AJ properly gave that team a much lower floor than we currently have. Our slump in 23 was a 2-6 stretch in the BE whereas we still haven’t lost. Now was the BE better then? Yeah. Am I assuming we’ll eventually get out of this slump? Yeah. But it will take some serious workshopping from staff, starting with diagnosing what exactly the problem is beyond just not making shots because The offense doesn’t look good leading up to the shot either.