Wow, this team is not even average

[MattMang23]

And the first worthless troll has arrived.

 

[huskymagic]

I don't think they've been regressing, I just think Big East play rolled around.

What are you talking about? Losing to Rutgers and Seton Hall in the same week and barely eeking out a win at South Florida which is supposed to be the easy part of our Big East schedule is not disconcerting to you. This team is a borderline tourney team right now if that if changes are not made immediately. We dont have an identity, no leader, no toughness, no energy, and guys dont seem to be having fun and playing for each other. These are issues that are very concerning. Next game on Monday as I posted above should be
1: Boatright 2: Lamb 3: Giffey/Daniels 4: Roscoe 5: Drummond
Bench: Napier, Oriakhi, Olander

This lineup is more gritty and bring toughness. Boatright needs the confidence to be the guy and will be better in crunch time for us.

 

[Dann]

 

[hooskies]

we get your ingenious lineup change. Napier wont' be coming off the bench.

 

[joober jones]

What are you talking about? Losing to Rutgers and Seton Hall in the same week and barely eeking out a win at South Florida which is supposed to be the easy part of our Big East schedule is not disconcerting to you. This team is a borderline tourney team right now if that if changes are not made immediately. We dont have an identity, no leader, no toughness, no energy, and guys dont seem to be having fun and playing for each other. These are issues that are very concerning. Next game on Monday as I posted above should be
1: Boatright 2: Lamb 3: Giffey/Daniels 4: Roscoe 5: Drummond
Bench: Napier, Oriakhi, Olander

This lineup is more gritty and bring toughness. Boatright needs the confidence to be the guy and will be better in crunch time for us.

I like it, only I'd put Olander in at the 4 and Roscoe at the 3. I know Roscoe isn't doing so well in that position this season, but still I like him over Giffey.

 

[UCweCONN]

How many besides me will admit that when we got Drummond they thought that he was the final piece needed for a repeat or deep tourney run? This team has now played half a season and has not improved at all and has likely gotten worse so I see little sign that this will be a special season. It is one thing to lose, but another to be out hustled by nearly every opponent and being unable to defend the three. They started the game playing tough defense tonight but then faded. People on this board make excuses after every loss or lackluster performance by saying "Remember last year?". Just stop! Stop using last year's Kemba ride to excuse this team's terrible play so far or give false hopes in people here. Beat a couple of good teams handily and then people will start believing that this group is finally getting it together. I think some of the players have this, attitude as well that they can turn it on when tourney time comes. With that outlook the season will be over before they blink. Kemba is not riding in to save the day. Each player needs to take responsibility for their performance and pick up their game. They have some great individual talent but are not a team.

 

[joober jones]

How many besides me will admit that when we got Drummond they thought that he was the final piece needed for a repeat or deep tourney run? This team has now played half a season and has not improved at all and has likely gotten worse so I see little sign that this will be a special season. It is one thing to lose, but another to be out hustled by nearly every opponent and being unable to defend the three. They started the game playing tough defense tonight but then faded. People on this board make excuses after every loss or lackluster performance by saying "Remember last year?". Just stop! Stop using last year's Kemba ride to excuse this team's terrible play so far or give false hopes in people here. Beat a couple of good teams handily and then people will start believing that this group is finally getting it together. I think some of the players have this, attitude as well that they can turn it on when tourney time comes. With that outlook the season will be over before they blink. Kemba is not riding in to save the day. Each player needs to take responsibility for their performance and pick up their game. They have some great individual talent but are not a team.

Well here's the thing with that. Last season everyone credited Donnell Beverly and Kemba Walker for generating such a strong team feeling and constantly keeping everyone together. This year we have neither of those guys and Oriakhi is our only upperclassman, who without Jamal Coombs-McDaniel probably isn't feeling that whole all for one, one for all dynamic so much.

 

[champs99and04]

How many besides me will admit that when we got Drummond they thought that he was the final piece needed for a repeat or deep tourney run? This team has now played half a season and has not improved at all and has likely gotten worse so I see little sign that this will be a special season. It is one thing to lose, but another to be out hustled by nearly every opponent and being unable to defend the three. They started the game playing tough defense tonight but then faded. People on this board make excuses after every loss or lackluster performance by saying "Remember last year?". Just stop! Stop using last year's Kemba ride to excuse this team's terrible play so far or give false hopes in people here. Beat a couple of good teams handily and then people will start believing that this group is finally getting it together. I think some of the players have this, attitude as well that they can turn it on when tourney time comes. With that outlook the season will be over before they blink. Kemba is not riding in to save the day. Each player needs to take responsibility for their performance and pick up their game. They have some great individual talent but are not a team.

I certainly did, and the thing is, I thought so because I figured the frontcourt was going to be one of the best in the country. We all knew we had a ton of talent in the backcourt with Lamb and Shabazz returning and Boatright coming aboard, but with the bulk and athleticism up front, I was hopeful this team would just bully people like the 08-09 squad. Drummond has just about lived up to expectations, and Olander has done even better than expected, but Oriakhi's disappearance may be what holds this team from reaching its potential. Why has he stopped rebounding? Nobody knows. Why has his low post game not progressed? Baffling. Why have the constant benchings not lit a flame under him? Maybe he doesn't have the persona.

Coming into the year, I certainly envisioned 5-10 postups a game from Alex Oriakhi and for him to be our second offensive option next to Lamb. Some people even floated the numbers 15 and 10 around. I recently re-visited a thread called "Who will be our second option?", and 75% of the responses seemed to favor Oriakhi. Oriakhi certainly has not played well, but I tend to think half the problem is Shabazz. Shabazz definitely shows flashes of brilliance, but Oriakhi seems to receive the least of his targets, and judging from their on court chemistry, I'd be willing to guess the off the court relationship between those two isn't all that tight. Regardless, I'd like to see Oriakhi get his 5-10 postups per game, even if half of them aren't pretty, it will at least build some confidence and trust in what seems to be a kid who lacks just that, and cause defenses to respect him.

The bottom line is this: This team will not threaten anybody if we cannot develop a low post game. Drummond doesn't seem ready to take on that responsiblity, and Olander doesn't really have the strength to get position. Oriakhi though, fights hard to gain position every time down the court, only to be looked off by Shabazz and Lamb, time and time again. While Oriakhi seems more comfortable in the post, Drummond seems like he's more of a natural face up player at this point in time, which brings me to my next point, which somebody has already mentioned: Why not Drummond at the four and Oriakhi at the five? Park Oriakhi in the post, and let Drummond work at the elbow, take one dribble, and get to the basket. Defensively, Drummond is quick enough to guard fours, while Oriakhi may not be. Just some thoughts to ponder. Drummond has the ability to catch the ball at the elbow, take one dribble, and just explode to the rim. That makes him more of a natural candidate to run the pick and roll with Shabazz.

 

[huskyharry]

I don't think it is a lack of effort per se that is the crux of the problem. Tonight's #1 problem was lack of attention to detail and shaken confidence after last game leading to multiple turnovers. Once things start going wrong, SN, jL and RB start forcing things even more and the players start standing and staring in disbelief because they think they are much better than this and they cannot understand why everything is going to crap...this psychological debacle has a lot to do with being young and yes we did see a lot of it last year when the team was in a funk prior to the BE tourney...if we can string together a couple of good performances the team can turn it around, but it starts with Shabazz. He can't start the game with multiple poor plays in a row, it sets a bad table for everyone else.
In the 2nd half, AD caught several feeds 5 feet from the basket but was so psyched out that he merely passed it back out...far enough back out that the offense had the be reset each team

 

[mauconnfan]

Calm down! He brings up a valid point and I happen to agree with him. This teams talent is just too good to be playing this poorly. They play with no intensity and I would not believe you if you told me you haven't been frustrated watching this team the last 5 games. We all knew this team would be a work in progress without Kemba. But It seems as if they've been regressing and playing no where near where they should be at thus point. Hopefully something will click and a leader will emerge from this team

"NIT"is a valid point? Jumping off the bandwagon because they lost a couple road games is a valid point? Please it's the sign of a tpical bandwagon, spoiled fan period. No need for that type here sorry....agree away!! Are there concerns, hell yeah, I'm not stupid. But at 12-3 and 4 games into the BE season to start calling your guys an NIT team is purley immature....that's my call on that one!

 

[husky91]

Oh, so now a 9-7 Rutty team is a "good" team because they beat an overrated Florida and obviously vastly overrated UConn team?

Classic. Uconn was preseason top 5, they're not even remotely top 40 right now. And they start NBA talent at 4 of 5 positions.

Wow. Not a good team. rutgers??? Really????

 

[Kitaman]

To the OP: Rutgers, SF and all other mid to lower tier BE teams play well above their norm when they see UConn jerseys. Coaches become much more focused and intense when strategizing against UConn. So I don't care if its ND, Depaul or whoever the effort you will see will be their best effort until we shut them down or respond with aggression, passion and dominance. Any BE team can beat us on the road right now, we definitely have to protect Gampel/Hartford until they become more unified.

The solution is not to give them confidence, and on the road to neutralize the fan base. Young teams struggle with this.