Worst Halves

[nomar]

Rather than go through all the players who played poorly (if they were wearing a UConn jersey, they did), or explore the reasons that we shot negative-9000% from the floor, I'm going to simply submit that the 2nd half tonight was one of the worst halves UConn has played during the Calhoun/Ollie era.

What other halves are up (or down) there? What came to my mind was the game against PC a million years ago where we trailed 31-16 at halftime. I think this was worse, though.

 

[CTBasketball]

2006-2007 saw some bad halves too. But they were all freshman. You'd think a group of 6 seniors would know how to attack a 2-3 zone...

 

[Palatine]

We scored 13 in the second half.

 

[CAHUSKY]

32-9 against umass. Or something close to that. At least we won that one

 

[nomar]

We scored 13 in the second half.

It's not just the points. If we just missed a million shots or FTs (like shooting 10/30 against GT), that would be one thing. But standing around and jacking up awful shots was just painful.

 

[CTBasketball]

It's not just the points. If we just missed a million shots or FTs (like shooting 10/30 against GT), that would be one thing. But standing around and jacking up awful shots was just painful.

We got our bigs some decent looks down low early in the 2nd, but they aren't skilled enough to finish. That put so much pressure on the guards who then decided to chuck up 3's.

 

[intlzncster]

It's not just the points. If we just missed a million shots or FTs (like shooting 10/30 against GT), that would be one thing. But standing around and jacking up awful shots was just painful.

Our D wasn't even that great for much of the night either.

 

[UConn_Top_Dog]

WTF did I just watch?

 

[boog204]

The UMass half was worse and I'd say that half against Providence when they dunked on us for 23 straight possessions was worse.

 

[mauconnfan]

32-9 at halftime at HCC vs UMass until Rashad came roaring back

 

[metsfan2323]

First half against Nova at the Civic Center during the Henefeld Dream Season. We had about 16 points at the half and the team got booed off the court.

This is the worst second half I remember.

 

[Excalibur]

First half against Nova at the Civic Center during the Henefeld Dream Season. We had about 16 points at the half and the team got booed off the court.

This is the worst second half I remember.

Villanova in 2001. Calhoun burned through all his timeouts in the first 8 minutes of the second half. Michael Bradley jump-hooked us to death and we lost by 15.

 

[Ts5034]

The UMass half was worse and I'd say that half against Providence when they dunked on us for 23 straight possessions was worse.

Yes the UMass first half was a lot worse but again we won that game and we turned out to be a sweet 16 team. That 2nd half vs Providence was frustrating especially because we had a 13 point at the half and scored almost 50 points.

 

[Gurleyman]

First half at Michigan State in 2000 was pretty bad. We were down almost 30 (maybe 46-17). The second half vs. Villanova after our first week at No. 1 in 1995. The second half against Cuse without Rip.

But it's a short list.

 

[Fishy]

This is about as bad a half as I can remember.

It's been a good long time since I've seen a UConn team in a position where I knew that at best there was one or two players who might have a chance to score.

This was a 1996/1997 level of futility.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

This made the previous night's Pitt-Cincinnati game look good, and feelings-wise it reminded me of a low-to-no scoring second half a few years ago against Cincinnati when the strongest thing keeping me from smashing the television was that I was at my sister's house where it would not have been appreciated. Last night, I was just in a trance and couldn't even yell.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Anyone else remember that UConn Cinci game at XL I think back in 2010? We had like 30 points towards the end of the game if I recall. A little rally got us over 40 I think, but just brutal.

 

[Inyatkin]

There was a game in 2010 against Notre Dame where I think we had 6 points in 22 minutes. Not quite the same, but pretty bad.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Let's just say it was the worst second half I've seen in a long time. The second half against Louisville last year was also pretty terrible, if more understandable. This was just sloppy, ugly, uninspired basketball. Forced shot after forced shot, and the decision making couldn't have been worse.

I don't care about bad first halves, where we adjust in the second. I am very concerned when we end the first half on a high note, carry it for 2-3 minutes and then morph into my daughter's 5th grade team (actually, our team is much more agressive and scrappy than UConn was).

 

[8893]

The second half against Louisville last year was also pretty terrible, if more understandable.

I mercifully feel asleep last night when we were up around 10 or 13 in the second half, woke up when the game was over and went to bed without checking the score, figuring we must have won. Glad I missed the show.

That second half against Louisville last year is the first one that came to my mind as a terrible half, but you're right--it was more understandable. That was the quickest I've ever swung from "We're in this!" to "There is no way we have a chance tonight." And it's the only time I can recall where I've left with a significant amount of time left in the game because I didn't think we stood a chance and didn't want to watch the carnage.

Sounds like last night was pretty terrible, but at least they were in it until literally the last seconds.

 

[upstater]

There was just bad mojo. Besides the fact they were taking bad shots, there was a laziness out there, and you could see it in the jump shooters who were not in form. Bazz's shots didn't look good when he was going up.

 

[John]

Rather than go through all the players who played poorly (if they were wearing a UConn jersey, they did), or explore the reasons that we shot negative-9000% from the floor, I'm going to simply submit that the 2nd half tonight was one of the worst halves UConn has played during the Calhoun/Ollie era.

What other halves are up (or down) there? What came to my mind was the game against PC a million years ago where we trailed 31-16 at halftime. I think this was worse, though.

No, there was that Providence game at the XL a few years ago where the Friars sodom*ized us the entire second half.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I mercifully feel asleep last night when we were up around 10 or 13 in the second half, woke up when the game was over and went to bed without checking the score, figuring we must have won. Glad I missed the show.

That second half against Louisville last year is the first one that came to my mind as a terrible half, but you're right--it was more understandable. That was the quickest I've ever swung from "We're in this!" to "There is no way we have a chance tonight." And it's the only time I can recall where I've left with a significant amount of time left in the game because I didn't think we stood a chance and didn't want to watch the carnage.

Sounds like last night was pretty terrible, but at least they were in it until literally the last seconds.

It was different, because Louisville simply overwhelmed us and forced turnovers and made great plays (and fouled without being callled). We didn't play well, but mostly you saw them playing at their best.

Last night was more like watching a man try to walk through a brick wall, instead of going around it or over it. Over, and over and over again. No adjustment. Stanford didn't do much, except play an ordinary zone, hit shots they should hit and rebound our misses. They didn't force our turnovers, we did. It was hideous. Our defense was good enough that they didn't run away with the game and so it stayed close.

 

[intlzncster]

It was different, because Louisville simply overwhelmed us and forced turnovers and made great plays (and fouled without being callled). We didn't play well, but mostly you saw them playing at their best.

Last night was more like watching a man try to walk through a brick wall, instead of going around it or over it. Over, and over and over again. No adjustment. Stanford didn't do much, except play an ordinary zone, hit shots they should hit and rebound our misses. They didn't force our turnovers, we did. It was hideous. Our defense was good enough that they didn't run away with the game and so it stayed close.

I didn't even think UCONN's defense was that great. Stanford had a number of easy looks that they missed. Every couple of possessions we buckled down well, but I'd like them to try to do that every trip down the floor.

Lackadaisical is the right word for the entire team last night. Not enough urgency.

 

[8893]

Last night was more like watching a man try to walk through a brick wall, instead of going around it or over it. Over, and over and over again.

Sounds like someone just needed to call for Kool-Aid: