Comparison of Bazz and Boat

[Hi-Low]

The most glaring weakness of this team was the lack of a 2nd skilled PG.....recent UConn history reflects how essential this is.
Price had Kemba...Final 4
Kemba had Shabazz...NC
Shabazz had Boat...NC
Boat has T-Sam...?? NIT Final 4 maybe

Jalen Adams is coming a year too late & I fear next year could be a repeat of this year until Ollie finds Jalen a backcourt partner.

 

[AstarIsBorn31]

The most glaring weakness of this team was the lack of a 2nd skilled PG.....recent UConn history reflects how essential this is.
Price had Kemba...Final 4
Kemba had Shabazz...NC
Shabazz had Boat...NC
Boat has T-Sam...?? NIT Final 4 maybe

Jalen Adams is coming a year too late & I fear next year could be a repeat of this year until Ollie finds Jalen a backcourt partner.

Dont forget Taliek and BG...(now im just reminiscing about Bens sweet jumper)

But I think we will be fine with Jalen Purv Dham & Brimah and the AAC

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Boat has been a great player for us but he simply isn't Bazz or Kemba IQ wise. He gives it 110% and is a better defensive player than the both and has tremendous heart but he simply doesn't take over the game like the other 2 did when the time came. He doesn't control the refs and get his teammates good looks like the former did and that's just that. Even on the last shot of the game there's no way you're telling me that's a good shot. He had a great 4 years here and he gave it his all this year but his all simply wasn't good enough.

I feel sad and sheepish agreeing with this, but I do. It's like criticizing someone for not being superhuman. An 11 game win streak could change that, but I genuinely don't believe that Boat is the best player in college basketball this year, and I did genuinely believe that was the case w/both Kemba & Bazz.

Midway through last season, I was frustrated by the team's play & Boat had not yet blossomed. I feared that he would either leave early w/a disappointing legacy, or return and have a Dyson-like Senior year in which he was asked to do too much and performed poorly. Instead, he has been asked to do too much and performed well, but it hasn't been enough. His words about not comparing himself to others show great wisdom. It has been a privilege to watch him grow and his esteemed place in Husky history is quite secure no matter how the upcoming games turn out. I wish only the best for the coaches, the players, the fans, and especially RB.

In my prayers, I would want this post to be foolishly premature. If a miracle is on tap, let it begin no later than Friday the 13th.

 

[The Funster]

I don't think you can overestimate the importance of the 2nd ball handler. Kemba had the opportunity to take on court breathers, play off the ball and share the focus of the defense with Bazz on the court. Bazz got the same from Boat. Boat has had who? TSam has played like a 3rd or 4th G. Purvis hasn't played with confidence and DHam is talented wing who doesn't have the skillset to be the 2nd handler like Bazz and Boat were. You just can't compare this years Boat to the senior years of Kemba and Bazz because of the lack of the 2nd handle. The dude helped win an NC for us. He shouldered a huge burden this year and always gave his best. that's good enough for me.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

I don't think you can overestimate the importance of the 2nd ball handler. Kemba had the opportunity to take on court breathers, play off the ball and share the focus of the defense with Bazz on the court. Bazz got the same from Boat. Boat has had who? TSam has played like a 3rd or 4th G. Purvis hasn't played with confidence and DHam is talented wing who doesn't have the skillset to be the 2nd handler like Bazz and Boat were. You just can't compare this years Boat to the senior years of Kemba and Bazz because of the lack of the 2nd handle. The dude helped win an NC for us. He shouldered a huge burden this year and always gave his best. that's good enough for me.

Those guys were mentored into those roles by Bazz and Kemba. Samuels and Hamilton have the skillset to be that 2nd distributing ballhandler but they just haven't been setup like that unfortunately. Or when they try the defense is just too focused on Boat for it to matter too much.

This team is so frustrating to watch because all these guys have talent and can put the ball in the hoop. They just have their spots that they never seem to get setup in consistently. They play way too sloppy. Amida has shown good post moves and a GREAT midrange jumper whenever he gets the look. Why doesn't he get more looks in that range? Instead they only use him for pick and rolls where he really doesn't have the strength and balance to finish the roll unless you throw it up to him. Hamilton's 3 has been inconsistent for the most part this year but his midrange has been consistent all year. He should have more looks from there. Purvis is a catch and shoot or catch and go type of guy and shouldn't be a main ballhandler because he hasn't been good at creating his own shots all year. This team has been too much about setting Boat up for open looks and getting him in spots instead of the other way around which has been disappointing to watch.

 

[jibsey]

Bazz and Kemba's teams weren't up and down all year? Let's take a look at these teams side by side for a second.

2011 2014 2015
Kemba Bazz Boat
Lamb Boat Purvis
Smith Giffey Hamilton
Tyler DD Phil
Oriaki Amida Amida (soph)

Bazz Phil Facey
Giffey Kromah Samuels
Beverly Tyler Calhoun
Jamal Coombs-McDaniel Calhoun
Okwandu

You can't tell me this team didn't have just as much if not more talent than those other teams. Not to mention we've played a MUCH easier schedule than the former seasons. I said this season would depend on Boat being able to lift others up and set guys up the way Kemba and Bazz did and that hasn't happened. I understand Bazz had Boat but Bazz also had a huge part of being an on the court coach for Boat to keep him under control and calm down. Something we haven't seen from Boat with Purvis.

Boat has great heart and motor like I said before and plays lights out defense but this season we basically saw why he isn't considered a 1st round pick like the likes of Bazz and Kemba. He simply can't set his teammates up or play the game with enough discipline to be an NBA PG. This team has A LOT of talent that just hasn't been put in spots to succeed all season. Which is on the PG. No excuses.

We don't have we don't have as much talent and it's not even close.

 

[UconnFanDC]

Boat has done very well this year. No knock on him. The rest of this team is inconsistent at best and a typical of real UConn talent at worse. Wait til next year to feel the pain and frustration. Is team is weak at times, but let's see next year without Boat.

I am sure they will be better. Boat was the best player but team looked for him to much at times, lacked confidence at times and all because it was said to be Boats team. Also just toooo many jumpers instead of going to the hole. Memphis was in foul trouble with plenty of time left. On senior night they did not play as a team and knew nothing but let it be the boat show instead of playing team ball and beating a team they should have beaten by 10 or more points

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

We don't have we don't have as much talent and it's not even close.

I don't know what you're definition of talent is then because I see two lottery picks on this roster and another guy in Purvis that will go higher than Boat when he's done playing here most likely. Purvis has shown he can be a great player at times and if he played with Bazz he would be that great player more consistently IMO. Bazz and Kemba's control of the game was on another level when they played here and they mentored their teammates to have that same control. From their headfakes that drew fouls, to getting players in their air to go to the FT line, to putting their teammates in all the right spots to score, and just being great smart leaders. Bazz mentored Boat to play more under control and we saw that many times over the years when they used to go at it. That's what made those teams so good. Boat himself isn't the most disciplined player like the guys before and that's why we are seeing this team that plays with no discipline. It starts with the leader.

Love Boat like I said and he gives it his all but he does have his faults. He is not one of the smartest players. With everyone depending on him so much instead of him forcing them to get into it like Bazz would do with Deandre and Giffey (because Boat didn't need too much of a kickstart just needed to slow down) it has lead to the season we had. The game just seems so difficult to these guys.

 

[jibsey]

What would the records of the 2011 and 2014 teams be in the AAC this year? And the sole reason would be the difference you think exists between Bazz and Boat? Jerome Dyson is more talented than Rodney at this point.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

What would the records of the 2011 and 2014 teams be in the AAC this year? And the sole reason would be the difference you think exists between Bazz and Boat? Jerome Dyson is more talented than Rodney at this point.

Was Jerome Dyson not an extremely talented player during his 4 years at UConn though? Who played MUCH better with AJ Price as his leader that set him up and out him in spots to succeed than he did by himself?

Yes those teams would do much better in the AAC than this team has because of Bazz. Your PG is crucial to making sure the rest of the team operates how it's suppose to. He's the QB on the court and your smartest player. Which is why you see runs like 2011 and 2014 where our star PGs had guys both inexperienced but talented with Kemba and experienced but limited with Bazz. They got the most out of those guys. Boat does not get the most out of his supporting cast. That's just that. He isn't a floor general who controls the pace of the game like Boat, Bazz, or even AJ. If he did he'd be a projected draft pick.
He has the IQ of a sophomore version of Shabazz or Kemba. He plays with his heart more than he does with his head. Yesterday's potential game winner double clutch was just an example of that. This is not to say he hasn't been a great player for us or this year but he isn't a true PG that will constantly make the the best decisions that a team can follow.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Simply not fair as each had different team to work with. I am huge Bazz guy and same with Boat. When I hear commentators say Boat isn't Bazz I feel it's unfair. All the kids are different and I appreciate every minute we get to watch Boat in our colors

Bingo.

For the sake of argument, let's say that Boat this year is the equal to Bazz from last year. After that, who replaces Boat from last year? Giffey? Daniels? Kromah? If we were to argue that Brimah and Nolan are equal to last year's version (a difficult but not impossible argument), Samuel had given a bit more, Hamilton is ~75% of Deandre and Omar is a slight improvement from last year there is still a ton of quality and experience that hasn't been replaced.

I'm not claiming that Boat is Bazz' equal, merely that it is impossible to compare the two as seniors considering the disparity in talent and experience around them.

 

[jibsey]

Boat also plays better D than Bazz, which was why we have last year's banner.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Do you guys really think Hamilton isn't a better player than Deandre? When has Deandre ever came close to having a triple double? FWIW Purvis has had 2 games this year that's matched or been greater than Boats season highs. Like I said it's starts from the leader. No one on last years team could create their own shot except for Boat. This year every basket we get seems to be off a play someone has to make by themselves.

 

[HailUConn]

I will start off the common traits that Boat and Bazz and Kemba: Heart, dedication, loyalty.

But, a big but, that's not all, at least, not the most important characteristics that a basketball team captain need to possess to lead the team to success.

The fundamental difference between Boat and Bazz, and for this and Kemba on the court is make every one around you better.

Don't just tell me Kemba's squad is more talented than Boat's. Kemba's are all freshmen. It's Kemba who've made that team better.
The same goes to Bazz, and he's made Giffey, Nolan, and Deandre better, and yes, a better Boat.

Unfortunately, I cannot say that for Boat, at least, not consistently or when the game is on the line. Sometimes, when the team is down, Boat is down with it, and his body language showed it and his inability to control his cool showed it.
this defines a leader a leader. Boat may have it, but not enough.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Do you guys really think Hamilton isn't a better player than Deandre? When has Deandre ever came close to having a triple double? FWIW Purvis has had 2 games this year that's matched or been greater than Boats season highs. Like I said it's starts from the leader. No one on last years team could create their own shot except for Boat. This year every basket we get seems to be off a play someone has to make by themselves.

At the moment, Hamilton as a freshman has shown flashes but is not close to being consistently comparable to Daniels. I don't doubt that in time he'll surpass Deandre but if we were to replace Hamilton with last year's Deandre, we would have been a better team to date this year.

 

[David 76]

Bazz was a little better PG than Boat
Boat was a far better SG than RP and all the rest
Daniels was a much better PF than Facey
Giffey, Kromah, Nolan were far better than what we had of the bench this year.

We improved significantly at the 3 and modestly with Brimah.

Last year had way more talent. Yes we have 2 guys that will play in the NBA and 2 that might. It is the other 6.
That gets magnified by the fact that all but one of our players can break a press. That shared deficit killed this team at almost every important juncture

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

At the moment, Hamilton as a freshman has shown flashes but is not close to being consistently comparable to Daniels. I don't doubt that in time he'll surpass Deandre but if we were to replace Hamilton with last year's Deandre, we would have been a better team to date this year.

Hamilton is averaging 11 and 6. Deandre avg 13 and 6. That's with Bazz setting up almost every basket for him because he had little handle to create by himself. Imagine what Hamilton numbers would look like if he had someone creating easy shots for him all the time like Deandre? He is a better rebounder and playmaker too. I could only imagine how this team would look if you replaced Deandre with Hamilton and we lost another ballhandler and the Hamilton to Amida lobs. I'm telling you this team has A LOT more talent than past years teams but they just aren't set up to score like they did in the past. Besides Amida everyone on this team makes their own shots. That's something Deandre, Giffey, Jeremy, Oriaki, Roscoe, etc etc all could not and did not do because Bazz and Kemba put them in all the right spots to score effortlessly.

Calhoun should be this years Giffey as far as floorspacers go but he rarely gets great looks like Giffey used to. Hamilton doesn't get the looks Deandre used to get. Purvis doesn't get checked when he plays out of control like Boatright did last year. All of these players have shown the potential to be good but simply don't have the right leader. When Rodney plays well he is a better player than Boat was last year. He has 2 games that matched or surpassed Boat's season high last year and had 7 games this year where he had 15 points or more compared to Boat's 8 last year. He just isn't as consistent. But again Boat had Bazz to set him up and keep him under control last year. Rodney doesn't have that this year.

 

[mauconnfan]

At the moment, Hamilton as a freshman has shown flashes but is not close to being consistently comparable to Daniels. I don't doubt that in time he'll surpass Deandre but if we were to replace Hamilton with last year's Deandre, we would have been a better team to date this year.

Nah it wold be pretty even maybe at best. While offensively DD was a bit better shooting it, we have asked DHam to actually be the 2nd ball handler and really our best passer and rebounder also. I doubt DD last year would have stepped up to do so. Maybe DHam gets the nod with this years team.

What would have been nice and changed the whole dynamic of this years team would have been DD coming back and playing on the court with DHam, that is something which would have changed this season.

 

[Gurleyman]

Boats efforts to create for his teammates has been there all year. Hamilton will be great but right now he wants to be a driver/creator. He passes up open shots constantly. Constantly. DD would do that at times as well but he wasn't as good off the bounce as DHam, so those moments were short lived. When Purvis heats up, it seems like he gets the ball fed to him regularly. But when he's cold, there isn't a place on the floor to get him the ball. Not saying that Boat is as natural a point as Bazz, because he's not, but this is a team where assists go to die.

As for the last shot against Memphis, Bazz had those moments too. Sheer luck he got the ball back against Florida after clanging a brutal one off the backboard, he took a terrible runner against Stanford down 2 and then with one last chance, he wilted and gave the ball to Omar for a 35 footer. Against Houston he tried a wild runner and got it blocked. Against St. Joe's he missed a bunny (after dribbling off his leg the time before).

Obviously there were plenty of Bazz successes too which drown those out, especially with some of his career numbers in overtime, and he'll be remembered more fondly as a Rushmore guy, which is fair. I will too. He was also was definitely a more natural point guard. But Florida and Kentucky were determined not to let him beat them late so other guys took us over the finish line (Bazz took 6 shots against UF and didn't score in the last 7 minutes of the NC game). And other guys got us started when he struggled against St. Joe's - starting with a huge Boat 3 down by 6, and ending with the Brimah put back. Boat's defense was also as much of a reason for the NC as any single factor last year.

There's a sentiment of feeling bad for Boat for what's happened this year, which I suppose I do too. But he had a chance to grab a rebound and dribble out a national championship, spiking the ball as he leapt around. Very very very few people ever get to have a moment like that. It so happened his came as a junior, so he didn't ride off into the sunset, but I think as a little more time goes by, the chronology will fade and that will be his signature.

 

[Kitaman]

How in the world would Bazz make this team better? Please tell.

 

[HailUConn]

How in the world would Bazz make this team better? Please tell.

How about "Punch you in the chest" if you don't run the set play or play smart ball?
How about hit the 25+ footers when the team is most needed?
How about confidence that oozes from him that his teams can always look up to and just trust him?

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Boats efforts to create for his teammates has been there all year. Hamilton will be great but right now he wants to be a driver/creator. He passes up open shots constantly. Constantly. DD would do that at times as well but he wasn't as good off the bounce as DHam, so those moments were short lived. When Purvis heats up, it seems like he gets the ball fed to him regularly. But when he's cold, there isn't a place on the floor to get him the ball. Not saying that Boat is as natural a point as Bazz, because he's not, but this is a team where assists go to die.

That's when Boat has to tell these guys to shoot. Give them that confidence even when they're cold because we need them. That's what Bazz would do last year with Giffey and Daniels. Boat allows himself to get trapped far to often or passes from traps to late. Don't let these guys pass up open looks because that just slows defense to sag like they have been doing all year. Especially when they don't shoot after already giving them space. There's still Omar who struggles to get open looks and it would help if we got Amida into spots to take advantage of his mid-range jumper. Do some pick and pops instead of pick and rolls all the time. Last year everything looked easy like I said before and everyone was getting open looks. It's not the same this year. I don't put that on inexperience either because Kemba had the young pups exactly where they were suppose to be during his run. Granted, nobody is Kemba. Definitely the best player ever to put on a UConn uniform without question. Watching his run still amazes me to this day.