What's up w/ AO??

[UconnU]

Getting fewer and fewer minutes...

 

[champs99and04]

JC is trying to send him a message. He'll get his minutes.

 

[Prezidint]

Love AO. Nuff said.

 

[TopDog18]

I've been wondering the same thing....He should be closer to 28-30 min a game and is closer to 20 min a game. I don't even feel like he's playing bad when he's in the game and foul trouble certainly has not been a problem with AO.

 

[Prezidint]

Yep. A bit odd.
Maybe JC is trying to get other guys PT early on?
AO has been a trooper for us. Don't like to see him only logging 15 minutes.

 

[HuskyFan32]

Getting fewer and fewer minutes...

Because he doesnt do anything at all when hes in. Hes been pretty bad this year. For him it all comes down to effort and intensity. When he plays with neither, hes not very good.

 

[Walker11]

We are going to need AO playing big minutes in the BE. He also never gets fed the ball, even when he is posting hard. I love what TO has done so far but am not 100 % sold on his ability to bang vs teams like Pitt.

One of the factors is that Roscoe is barely playing the 3 at all. DD has played >35 minutes the past 2 games.

 

[UconnU]

We have a lot of forwards.. we cant even put together a rotation because we have too many of them that can play on this level.

 

[dsturdy5]

During these games we don't really need AO to bang and get boards like we will vs Syracuse, Pitt, etc. Why not use the time to get minutes for the other bigs and save AO a bit.

 

[HuskyFan32]

We are going to need AO playing big minutes in the BE. He also never gets fed the ball, even when he is posting hard. I love what TO has done so far but am not 100 % sold on his ability to bang vs teams like Pitt.

One of the factors is that Roscoe is barely playing the 3 at all. DD has played >35 minutes the past 2 games.

Roscoe cant play the 3 tho and thats becoming an issue as it really jams things up at the 4 and 5 and leaves only DD really at the 3. Daniels has to do more than 3 pts in 35 min tho. 2 subpar games from him in a row. I realize Oriakhi didnt play much and he never gets the ball on offense, but 2 rebounds in 15 min?? Thats just not good enough.

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

to be honest, i dont think lamb and shabazz are finding the open guy enough, i see a lot of forced shots even though both are scoring 20+, Deandre Daniels is open a lot, and the bigs should be getting fed the ball inside

 

[TheChamps990411]

AO gets fed the ball and puts up bricks,travels or gets stripped. he has been awful this year so far. i have no idea whats up with him. RS is not a 3 and its glaringly obvious. some of the shots he took tonight barely hit rim. he tried to drive and turned the ball over even falling flat on his back on a drive. i think AO and RS will turn it around but its looking ugly right now.
i think with JL and BAZZ being so hot right now it is taking from the post production but i think itll improve as the season goes on and guys get a better feel for where the bigs will be in the post.

 

[huskyharry]

JC has always believed that they have to earn their minutes. AO was clearly better than Chuck last year, but he has not played better than TO and AD so far this year...it will all sort out over time. DD will likely see some if his minutes at the 3 go to JLamb as RB gets minutes at the two. If RB is as good as advertised then having SN, RB and JLAmb on the floor together will be part of the best lineup on offense

 

[MarkT]

Roscoe cant play the 3 tho and thats becoming an issue as it really jams things up at the 4 and 5 and leaves only DD really at the 3. Daniels has to do more than 3 pts in 35 min tho. 2 subpar games from him in a row. I realize Oriakhi didnt play much and he never gets the ball on offense, but 2 rebounds in 15 min?? Thats just not good enough.

I don't get why you say Roscoe can't play the 3, of course he can. He may not be the best shooter I agree, but they can put him in at the 3 and he can guard almost any other teams 3. I think if anything Daniels will have a hard time playing the 3 (on D) cause he lacks the lateral quickness (I know Dickey is a guard but he was going by him at will) - I think Roscoe will be big this season at the 3 because of his D. Roscoe may not be as good a shooter as Daniels but he is a much better defender then Daniels.

 

[champs99and04]

I thought it was interesting that Daniels has played 35 minutes consistently the past few games. I really like Daniels as a player, but at this point in time his production does not warrant 35 minutes. It seems like Scoe is taking Oriakhi's minutes at the four and Deandre is taking Scoe's minutes at the three, which in effect, leaves Oriakhi as the odd man out. Maybe I'm reading into a couple of games too much, but that's all we have to go by.

SN-33 minutes, RB 7 minutes
JL-33 minutes, RB 7 minutes
DD-25 minutes, Scoe 10 minutes, Giff 5 minutes
TO-20 minutes, AO 12 minutes, Scoe 8 minutes
AD-27 minutes, AO 13 minutes

JMO

 

[HuskyFan32]

I don't get why you say Roscoe can't play the 3, of course he can. He may not be the best shooter I agree, but they can put him in at the 3 and he can guard almost any other teams 3. I think if anything Daniels will have a hard time playing the 3 (on D) cause he lacks the lateral quickness (I know Dickey is a guard but he was going by him at will) - I think Roscoe will be big this season at the 3 because of his D. Roscoe may not be as good a shooter as Daniels but he is a much better defender then Daniels.

Roscoe can defend the 3, but when he plays there he is out of place and it kills us offensively. Maybe he just had a bad couple of games, but is it a coincidence that hes had 2 great games back to back and he played the 4 the whole time? He doenst move well enough without the ball and he isnt a strong dribbler, driver etc. Hes just far more effective playing the 4, which is unfortunate because that leaves DD as our only strong option at 3 and Roscoe, TO, and AO fighting for time at the 4.

 

[MarkT]

Roscoe can defend the 3, but when he plays there he is out of place and it kills us offensively. Maybe he just had a bad couple of games, but is it a coincidence that hes had 2 great games back to back and he played the 4 the whole time? He doenst move well enough without the ball and he isnt a strong dribbler, driver etc. Hes just far more effective playing the 4, which is unfortunate because that leaves DD as our only strong option at 3 and Roscoe, TO, and AO fighting for time at the 4.

I agree that he's not the best offensive player and that you lose the person that can hit the open 3 in Daniels - but that's all you lose is a shooter cause Daniels has shown no ability whatsover to create his own shot. As the season progresses I see this team running the floor more which Roscoe is better at then Daniels and I also expect more point production from the bigs as the season goes on. The way I look at it is when we play better teams I'd rather lose a little offense then lose a lot on Defense - Roscoe's gonna be able to guard the 3's from just about any other team in the nation whereas Daniels will be such a big liability on D he is either gonna cause our bigs to get in foul trouble (by his man penetrating past him and the bigs having to help) or the guards are gonna have to come over to help which will lead to a lot of open 3's for the opposing team. To be honest, once the Big East begins I'd rather see Roscoe starting at the 3 - Daniels is just too much of a liability on Defense (he can't guard a chair). Defense wins games and has been a key to UConns success over the yrs, look at last year, we won cause of our D-ya Kemba and Lamb could hit 3's (which is what Lamb and Napier can do) but we didn't have or need a spot shooter to win (which is what Daniels is). I'm not saying Daniels won't be productive on offense-he will definitely hit open 3's throughout the season, I'd just rather see him come off the bench at the 3.

 

[HuskyFan32]

I agree that he's not the best offensive player and that you lose the person that can hit the open 3 in Daniels - but that's all you lose is a shooter cause Daniels has shown no ability whatsover to create his own shot. As the season progresses I see this team running the floor more which Roscoe is better at then Daniels and I also expect more point production from the bigs as the season goes on. The way I look at it is when we play better teams I'd rather lose a little offense then lose a lot on Defense - Roscoe's gonna be able to guard the 3's from just about any other team in the nation whereas Daniels will be such a big liability on D he is either gonna cause our bigs to get in foul trouble (by his man penetrating past him and the bigs having to help) or the guards are gonna have to come over to help which will lead to a lot of open 3's for the opposing team. To be honest, once the Big East begins I'd rather see Roscoe starting at the 3 - Daniels is just too much of a liability on Defense (he can't guard a chair). Defense wins games and has been a key to UConns success over the yrs, look at last year, we won cause of our D-ya Kemba and Lamb could hit 3's (which is what Lamb and Napier can do) but we didn't have or need a spot shooter to win (which is what Daniels is). I'm not saying Daniels won't be productive on offense-he will definitely hit open 3's throughout the season, I'd just rather see him come off the bench at the 3.

I agree Mark. I guess its not so much that Roscoe cant play the 3, but a matter of his effectivness. All of his strenghts (defense, rebounding, hustle, energy, scrappiness, putback buckets); those are all suitable for a 4. Daniels is a good defender and rebounder as well, and I disagree that he cant create his own shot. He may not be great at it yet, but he has shown an ability to do so. And Daniels is not a terrible defender at all. In our offense we need a 3 to be versatile and have an ability to shoot, drive, and dish, and Rosoce just cant do that. Im not arguing that Daniels has been phenominal, but his game is far better equipped to play the 3 in our offense than Roscoes.

 

[MarkT]

I agree Mark. I guess its not so much that Roscoe cant play the 3, but a matter of his effectivness. All of his strenghts (defense, rebounding, hustle, energy, scrappiness, putback buckets); those are all suitable for a 4. Daniels is a good defender and rebounder as well, and I disagree that he cant create his own shot. He may not be great at it yet, but he has shown an ability to do so. And Daniels is not a terrible defender at all. In our offense we need a 3 to be versatile and have an ability to shoot, drive, and dish, and Rosoce just cant do that. Im not arguing that Daniels has been phenominal, but his game is far better equipped to play the 3 in our offense than Roscoes.

I disagree, a 3 doesn't necessasarily have to be a scorer - if I recall Bruce Bowen was a 6'7" forward that made a very productive NBA carreer being just a defensive specialist. Once our bigs get going, we should almost always have 3 legit scorers on the court at all times which is plenty - what we need is defense. Lets be honest, Daniels is just not a good defender. When we get into league play you will see he doens't have the foot speed to keep up with good small forwards. Also, I've watched every UConn game so far and I don't recall once where Daniels has created his own shot. Almost all of his points have been open 3's and he's scored on a couple dunks (that he didn't creat for himself) - look at his stats, he's only shot 6 times inside the arc. If he was able to create his own shot I think he would have shot more then 6 times inside the arc (hes shot more then 2x more 3's then 2's -14 3pt attemps vs 6 2pt attempts).

 

[jfuchs91]

SN-33 minutes, RB 7 minutes
JL-33 minutes, RB 7 minutes
DD-25 minutes, Scoe 10 minutes, Giff 5 minutes
TO-20 minutes, AO 12 minutes, Scoe 8 minutes
AD-27 minutes, AO 13 minutes

These are actually really good and I tend to agree with this. I think this is a fair distribution if you combine how players have played so far with how much is expected of them come March.

On kind of a side note, last year I kept saying how Giffey needed to see more minutes as he was such a good defender and just seemed to have a nose for the ball. Well, I still think he has those qualities, but I really don't think he's earned much playing time with how he's played. 5 minutes seems about right, but I just feel bad for him. I feel like he could be a significant contributor, but we're just so loaded at the 3-5.

 

[Prezidint]

I'm not sure what everybody is looking at but DD is averaging 28MPG, and in the last two has played 34 and 36.

Guys. He's our 3, and if he's getting 35MPG range during the early going, it seems likely that he'll be getting that later on.

The reason AO isn't getting minutes is because RS is taking his minutes, and as a poster above indicated, RS is simply not a 3. He brings a lot to the table, but the fact that DD got 34 minutes last night and AO got 18 and RS got 31 is because the fight between RS and AO is over the 4 spot. 18 and 31 is 49. That's 40 minutes at the 4, and then 6 more when DD was on the bench, leaving 3 minutes somewhere else.

It's clear at this point, and subject to change, that AO and RS are going to be fighting for minutes all year.

DD is a much better offensive weapon than either guy, he's learning to play D and seems quite committed to it, he's a decent shot blocker and rebounder, he shoots the 3 well, and he runs the floor constantly. Hard to keep him on the bench.

 

[jcf2000]

Its about matchups. AO or AD are playing against these small teams. Both should play against big teams. AO will be fine, but it's not wise of a captain to tweet about playing time with Jamal Coombs-McDaniel. Jamal Coombs-McDaniel should be working on his jump shot instead of tweeting. I can still hear his bricks rattling around the mall.

 

[RS9999X]

I read less into this too.

Giving DD a start makes sense. AD claims he plays better starting (or is more used to it). Worth a look.

I can think of a number of reasons why when Boatright comes off the bench it would be good to have more seasoned players like AO and RS on the court at the same time and why that can crush an opponent. Pulling Nappier, DD, and AD to face Boatright,AO and RS isn't a typical reserve unit.

Nothing new here. Cupcake season sees many lineup changes and looks

And today is the last game without the hook With Boatright on board, Calhoun can return to the Captain Hook style of coaching and punish fouls and TOs with a quick nasty exit. They WILL play defense by January 1st.

 

[Rico444]

I'm not sure what everybody is looking at but DD is averaging 28MPG, and in the last two has played 34 and 36.

Guys. He's our 3, and if he's getting 35MPG range during the early going, it seems likely that he'll be getting that later on.

The reason AO isn't getting minutes is because RS is taking his minutes, and as a poster above indicated, RS is simply not a 3. He brings a lot to the table, but the fact that DD got 34 minutes last night and AO got 18 and RS got 31 is because the fight between RS and AO is over the 4 spot. 18 and 31 is 49. That's 40 minutes at the 4, and then 6 more when DD was on the bench, leaving 3 minutes somewhere else.

It's clear at this point, and subject to change, that AO and RS are going to be fighting for minutes all year.

DD is a much better offensive weapon than either guy, he's learning to play D and seems quite committed to it, he's a decent shot blocker and rebounder, he shoots the 3 well, and he runs the floor constantly. Hard to keep him on the bench.

I agree. Roscoe would do well to start bulking up and working on his post moves, because I see his future at the 4.

Daniels has looked very good. He rebounds, plays defense, blocks shots, and he can shoot it, although his shot has been off a bit the last few games.

 

[NHUConnfan]

I really think people have given AO a pass this year. He has been awful. As far as not feeding him the ball - why would you? His hands aren't great. Point and case - the only time I remember him being fed the ball last night, he promptly got it stripped. Andre Drummond has been playing better than him at the 5 and Roscoe Smith should be playing the 4, leaving AO with split time between 4/5. Maybe he'll get his minutes eventually, but he's going to have to fight AD and RS for them - both whom are playing much better than he is right now.