I'm assuming everyone is content with our play

[Waquoit]

Uhm… the fans that didn’t show up last night sucked.

I thought it was the biggest crowd for mid-week cupcake in years. It went pretty high into the upper deck.

 

[Ports21]

Eh I mean coming back from the bahamas, a little hangover, a 35% full XL center, some slapweed team, Tyrese out -- as long as you get the W just move on. It was a bad performance but somewhat understandable. Dudes need to stop going for every ball fake.

 

[Woodson]

Sure- but it’s getting old. His “mum” attitude on giving reporters and fans the bare minimum about players (apparently along with Martin’s injury, Sanogo is hurt too) to not having his guys prepared in first halves of games and needing to scrape to get by (or lose). It is reoccurring and there needs to be some introspection or changes on his part. He is stubborn though, so I’m not sure that will happen.

Oh no! Think about the reporters!

 

[mauconnfan]

This is a keen observation. Sanogo's misses seldom yield a second chance.

Part of that is he doesn’t pass and people somehow stand watching rather than crashing knowing for now he’s basically a black hole. But you’re right for sure.

 

[UofCT]

Uhm… the fans that didn’t show up last night sucked.

The student section was a disgrace

 

[freescooter]

Akok did play and did not do much.

Only Hurley knows why the others did not play.

If Sanogo misses any upcoming games, I would think Hurley would have to give Johnson and Springs, some minutes since the opponents will be a lot taller than UMES. And, Akok will get more minutes.

Diggins, I don't know what will happen.

Did it ever occur to anybody that Springs and Johnson dont play because they aren’t that good?

One thing I think last night showed was the impact of the 3. Seemed like they couldn’t miss for a while. We need to get guys like that.

Im assuming Sonogo was hurt early. He was being outplayed by a guy who was 3 inches shorter.

 

[nomar]

This is a keen observation. Sanogo's misses seldom yield a second chance.

I didn't think that to be the case in the Bahamas. Seemed like guys (Martin, Jackson, e.g.) were crashing the boards knowing that Sanogo was going to put it up.

His shot selection hasn't been great, though.

 

[Deepster]

This thread is garbage.

Can we just hit fast forward to the annual "We should play all games at Gampel" thread?

 

[uconnfan68]

Our defense looks different. We seem to be scrambling all over the place. I think the fact they stretched out defense so much might give us pause and think about a zone to compact the bodies in the paint where we are much more effective.

Zone? Do you hear yourself? Way too logical for here…

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I agree except they did do something we haven't seen this year in that they used a 4 guard 5 out line up. They spread the court and went on one on or looked for cutters. We couldn't stay in front of our guy. They took the shot blockers out the game until the last 5 minutes when Whaley had a few.

Our team when Sanogo gets the ball is to stand around and call for it as he throws up a 10 footer that never have a chance of going in. Since we cleared out for him there is no chance of an offensive rebound. Yet we come down the floor we still look for him. Teams now know to double him and he wont pass.

Is that really the first 5 out UConn has seen? That can't be right. Didn't Auburn play some 5 out?

I don't like the way Hurley plays 5 out offenses, but if he is going to pick a path, then he has to make it work. Most middle schools coaches will switch to a loose 2-3 zone against a 5 out, but Hurley is stubborn so he wants to make man-to-man work. He has to play the help side closer to the basket against a 5 out. Make them make the cross court pass. They would only get 2 or 3 of those before the shot clock expires.

 

[uconnfan68]

Is that really the first 5 out UConn has seen? That can't be right. Didn't Auburn play some 5 out?

I don't like the way Hurley plays 5 out offenses, but if he is going to pick a path, then he has to make it work. Most middle schools coaches will switch to a loose 2-3 zone against a 5 out, but Hurley is stubborn so he wants to make man-to-man work. He has to play the help side closer to the basket against a 5 out. Make them make the cross court pass. They would only get 2 or 3 of those before the shot clock expires.

What's the point of having great off-ball shotblockers if you don't use them?

 

[yungdowork]

Is that really the first 5 out UConn has seen? That can't be right. Didn't Auburn play some 5 out?

I don't like the way Hurley plays 5 out offenses, but if he is going to pick a path, then he has to make it work. Most middle schools coaches will switch to a loose 2-3 zone against a 5 out, but Hurley is stubborn so he wants to make man-to-man work. He has to play the help side closer to the basket against a 5 out. Make them make the cross court pass. They would only get 2 or 3 of those before the shot clock expires.

Seems to me that the biggest problem with running man to defend a 5 out is that Cole and Martin are our only guards who are decent on-ball defenders, and considering Cole's size and athleticism, that is not a good thing. Gaffney and seemingly Hawkins are both liable to get cooked off the dribble at any moment, and we can't afford to give them help every possession if the other team is moving our bigs further and further from the paint.

Auburn did go 5 out at times and that's right about when KD Johnson started taking over. When they were 5 out and Jabari was trying to control the ball more, our bigs (Whaley in particular) did a very good job being the on-ball defender. Unfortunately, I just don't think that's a primary strength for our guards.

 

[UConnSwag11]

Bump

 

[BlueMAB]

I, for one, am shocked we struggled considering we are down 2 starters and playing our first real road game in 2 years against the 4th winningest coach in the history of college basketball whose teams almost always play great defense.

 

[Waquoit]

Bump

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