We’re not playing 4 out 1 in with Clingan and Sanogo on the floor, teams would leave Jackson and Sanogo wide open and stuff the paint.
Because with Adama it's not even really a full hedge. He shows on the pick to give the guard enough time to fight through and recover, and then retreats to the paint. So he's not being asked to keep guys in front of himself on defense, just force them to move laterally long enough that the guard can do that
If the two of them are in at the same time, then the outside game isn't going to be the point of emphasis and Karaban is likely sitting. One is going to the high post and the other is going to the opposite block down low. Likely Adama at high post to give space to go by or create contact from an undersized 4. If guard help crashes, you kick outside and swing to Hawkins. If low help, easy dump to Clingan. If no help, then it's Sanogo one on one banging around for good position for a close shot. I don't see this lineup going more than 3 minutes though so you could sit Newton and let AJ run point for that time.
From all their layups and And 1 layups 41 was the number it came to. I might be off by a point or 2 +- but that's what I came up with.
This would have made more sense if we didn't have shooters like last year. We do, so there's no reason to pack the paint and force Sanogo to be the main decision maker in the offense. Assuming a guy who still struggles to pass out of obvious double teams to be reading multiple options out of the high post and making the correct decision seems like a pipe dream. Not mention trading off making more 2's than 3's makes no statistical sense
Hurley does. He won't let them beat him out there. Call it his achilles heel, whatever you want. I'm not advocating for his approach, I'm simply saying it's what he's done since he's been here. It killed us against Creighton. It killed us when he pulled Sanogo against St. Johns and gave up endless layups. Sanogo is doing exactly what he's coached to do. Every good coach in this league knows how to exploit Hurley's tendency, which is why our D doesn't look nearly as good in Big East play. We have to go zone 5 minutes a game with DC in the paint just to disrupt these offensive schemes.
Get Clingan guarding the perimeter out of your head. He's a 7'2 guy who shuts things down near the basket...The Sanogo coming out to guard at the three point line all the time worked earlier in the season but teams are ready for it now. They've seen it and the Big East coaches know us. Whaley was great at it and Sanogo is just solid at it. I'm not saying completely scrap it but do a lot less of it if we're going to keep playing Sanogo 30 minutes and Clingan 10 minutes (which needs to stop btw.) Xavier was prepared for it and Sanogo was caught out of position all night and then we had nothing at the rim which is bothersome because we do have a great rim protector/shotblocker...Without Samson, with Clingan being benched, and with Sanogo out at the three point line we have zero rim protection. That's not UConn basketball and that's us playing to our opponents instead of using our size and athleticism to our advantage.
becuz, for some odd reason, many here think that every 4 we play against is ... ummmm, ... a playa who can bring it hard, or tomahawk down low, or go all draino from deep, like .....nba Cliff Robinson?
It's a decision on what you live with. McDermott was fine with letting Whaley shoot threes last year, Whaley made them and Creighton won. Miller was fine with letting Jackson shoot threes, he made them until he rushed them in the chaotic last 2 minutes and Xavier won. Hurley was not okay with Nunge shooting threes, it turned into a layup line and UConn lost.
Case in point, Whaley draining 3s vs Creighton last year. McDermott still left him open, because it effectively shut down the other 4 guys. Ultimately you know the coach doesn't want Whaley (or now AJax) taking a dozen 3's. So you say, ok, beat me with that guy.
I had exactly the same view watching that stretch. I was screaming about it. Those possessions needed to be either open 3's for Hawk or AK (and nobody else) or attempts to score inside and hopefully draw fouls. Made it way too easy on the defense.
Oh so in his 7 minutes you didn’t see that much? He was preseason player of a tournament that had lots of good players, but you really can’t criticize a player for a 3 or 4 minute stretch in a game when other players didn’t defend. Can we give the kid 20 minutes?
Hawkins also missed a wide open transition three which maybe could've broken Xavier's back, Sean Miller said as much. That's a shot I think he makes 8 out of 10 times.
McDermott would not under any circumstances let Nunge shoot open threes as his defensive strategy.
True, he's such a talented shooter I'm left wondering why some of those wide open in rhythm ones don't go in.
If Sanogo had developed a mid range game this would not be an issue, Karaban, Hawk and/or AJax could take a breather.
So they put five out why can't Hurley make a change? Daniels and Longino were under 30% from three prior to this game. Have Andre play the hot hand if one arises.
Yeah it’s like the less time he has to think about it, the better chance it has of going in.
Agreed, defense was the big problem last game but we haven't looked like the same team since Big East play started. Final score for Xavier was deceiving in that it was closer than the final score was and final score in the other three were deceiving in how close they were for much of the game.
It’s not that neither is bad. It’s just which one would you live with.
I'm not criticizing him at all. Clingan has been fantastic. UConnSwag11 said "He came in and we went on a run...". I simply pointed out that we did not go on a run either time he came in.
