RJ just not good enough

[Ratso]

Everything is fine. We’re back in the big east. That’s all

if you’ve never been to the BE tournament @ the garden yoooooo

 

[gampelcrazies]

Cole isn't good enough for what's ask from him. He's not the go to guy but Hurley thinks he is.

Let's face it he's a backup on a good team or a starter for a team that has a lot of offensive weapons.

 

[Mr. French]

Cole had a tough game. 5-16 with 0 threes. It happens.

What surprised me is that he was gassed in the first half. Bent over, hands on his hips, he didn't look conditioned. In fact, in the first half, Creighton was clearly the better conditioned team. Their defense had a ton of energy and they killed us on the boards. It showed with a 10 point half time lead.

I noticed that too - he was huffing and barely able to play D. Also shots were short or just didn’t look able to get by anyone.

But overall, the rest of the team was brutal. I’m not sure where the idea comes from that this team can shoot, that starting lineup and most of the bench can’t consistently knock down Js and for some reason tonight Cole wasn’t even taking them.

I was watching but not studying every play, so I can’t be sure what the issue was, but Hurley seemed frustrated. Until Hawkins can develop, we have no one to really create their own shot. If we don’t pound it in the post like it’s 1988 or get out and run (which we don’t try to do much), our O is ugly.

 

[auror]

Cole had a tough game. 5-16 with 0 threes. It happens.

What surprised me is that he was gassed in the first half. Bent over, hands on his hips, he didn't look conditioned. In fact, in the first half, Creighton was clearly the better conditioned team. Their defense had a ton of energy and they killed us on the boards. It showed with a 10 point half time lead.

They had an insane stretch of 7 minutes straight with 0 timeouts, subs, free throw attempts, and minimal stoppage. Both teams were beat. Shouldn't read into that.

 

[UCFan1513]

Cole is perfectly fine. It's Hurley that hasn't shown he's good enough.

Bingo

 

[3rdbass]

Cole looked tired and Chreighton had a great game plan on him. They tired Cole out throwing multiple defenders guardlng him as there was always someone fresh. Cole looked tired by his shots. Unfortunately Cole can't do it game in and game out as he needs help. Cole was good against Depaul but unfortunately he had a bad game this time. Martin needs to step up his game as he is a Sr.

 

[Chin Diesel]

The lack of help from the bench is really a problem. I’d say we need a combination of 15 points a game from Polley and Hawkins or we are not getting to the 2nd weekend in March. Cole isn’t the problem. Sanogo and Martin need some help to unclog the paint. We may be able to get by with one guy having a great offensive game against Depaul and Butler but it’s not going to work against anyone over .500 in the Big East.

Cole is only a problem because there is no other option.

I've said it many times, Cole at 28-30 mpg where he plays about around 20-22 as the PG and the rest as the SG would be ideal. Unfortunately, Gaff has completely gone astray and Diggins isn't ready so Cole is forced in to a 35 mpg PG role.

If he has an off night, like he did last night, and every guard has had, UConn has no one to pick up the slack and take the reigns from him.

Cole was off from the get go, short arming and front rimming everything. He wasn't even looking for his 3 point shot. The two starting wing players, both of whom are 40% 3 point shooters for the season, didn't help out. The two shooters off the bench, Hawkins and Polley, didn't help out. Gaff fell over crossing the court. Again.

Hawkins, Polley, Martin and Jackson combined to shoot 4-27 from the field and 1-10 from 3. They combined for 14 points. They played 96 of the 200 available minutes in a game. I'll go on a limb and suggest UConn loses almost every game going forward if those numbers stay consistent.

 

[djct1999]

Something was clearly off with Cole last night. He would get by their pg at ease and have a clear lane to the hoop countless times but for some reason chose to pull the ball back.

 

[SYF75]

W/O Cole they are an 8 win team maybe...this team is 5.5 players deep. You can X/O argue to death, but they are thin. I don't think the staff thought they'd be this thin at this point in season. Hawkins is a deer in headlights, Akok obviously not in it, Gaffney regressed and Polley helps at times. This could be going sideways and too bad I hope that's not the case because I like the mentality of these kids and Hurley.

 

[JohnFSilver]

Common denominator in all these disappointments and late game droughts is the fact that RJ just is not good enough to pull out a W in these situations.

When he’s in hero mode and things are falling, sure we all love him. But he’s the DEFINITION of a ball stopper. He sits around and dribbles for 3/4 of the shot clock and we get up some hot potato shot.

On top of that, missing key free throws is just to be expected from him.

We need a new philosophy late game. The ball just can’t go through him anymore.

Terrible take .

The reason the ball goes through him is that no one else can do it. Gaffney is inconsistent, diggings is non-existent. Outside of Jackson, everyone else is a non-ball handler.

Jackson can’t create his own shot and Martin has tunnel vision. The issue with Tuesdays Game wasn’t late, it was UConn early. What was that first half? Why is the shooting bad and the offense not crisp?

You can not take 20 minutes to match your opponents energy level and purpose. UConn played too cool for school. Didn’t concentrate.

 

[JohnFSilver]

Something was clearly off with Cole last night. He would get by their pg at ease and have a clear lane to the hoop countless times but for some reason chose to pull the ball back.

7-footer who is one of the nation’s top shot blockers was there protecting the rim.

 

[BlueDogs]

Ill give Cole a pass since he's saved our bacon a lot more than he's fried it. The guy can't shoulder the entire load every game. What I do see is guys that are tired and getting run into the ground.

 

[Chin Diesel]

7-footer who is one of the nation’s top shot blockers was there protecting the rim.

Cole has a good pull up J from the FT line and I really like that shot from him rather than trying the floaters from 6'-8'.

 

[NJHskyfan8]

This is a terrible take.

RJ has been our most consistent player all year.

RJ looked like someone who is 72 hours removed from carrying a team to road victory and then was tasked with taking the opposing point guard out of the game, which he did. Nembhard had 6 pts on 2-8 shooting and 1 assist. He showed up on the defensive end and looked tired offensively which is compounded by not having a competent reserve PG. Still RJ was our 2nd leading scorer. Sure, he's not a #1 like Kemba or Shabazz but I don't think he was ever billed as such. He's a grad transfer from Howard not a McDonald's all-american like Kemba or a top 100 recruit like Shabazz. Expectations for RJ have gone up because of how wildly inconsistent the rest of the team is. That's not on RJ.

Again just an awful take.

RJ is the least of our issues.

 

[cohenzone]

Without RJ - this team is toast - DH relies on him so much and RJ has carried the team to quite a few wins
They need another combo guard who has some length

Anyone ever hear of James Bouknight?

 

[PAHusky]

RJ gets a pass in my book because the guy has saved us multiple times this year.

Closest recent comp for him may be that year Boatright was carrying the team by himself for huge stretches of the season.

The only problem I had with his game last night - why the hesitation to shoot threes? I thought he had a few times coming around screens, with and without the ball, where he could have pulled the trigger but didn't. Odd

 

[CallMeBruce]

New posts should be frozen when the team plays badly, otherwise you get braindead garbage like this.

 

[navery12]

Anyone ever hear of James Bouknight?

 

[Psolo12]

The OP is absolutely insane for this post. This same Creighton team beat Nova by 20, is Gillespie trash too? Give me a break, time to delete your account or step back.

 

[Connecticut13]

Cole is perfectly fine. It's Hurley that hasn't shown he's good enough.

I'm honestly surprised at the number of "dislikes" that this comment received. I can't believe anyone can objectively look at the coaching this season and think that it hasn't been a significant concern. We haven't seen improvements from our young players outside of Andre Jackson (most notably, Jordan Hawkins), we've seen regression from others (most notably, Gaffney), we've seen an inability to manage a rotation, we've seen players whose confidence has seemingly been diminished and we've seen ridiculous late-game management. There are pro's too for sure, excellent recruitment, tough defense, etc. -- but still so many question marks. Hurley has significant room for improvement, and I'm hoping he's going to get there.

This team would be lost without Cole, so forgive me - but he is NOT the problem. He's not Kemba Walker and he is not without limitations, but he's still a pretty good D1 point guard. I'm happy he's with the program. And I hope he's back with us next year. I don't think we can win without him.

 

[Kiddddddd34]

He is a 90% free throw shooter.
He’s the guy we want taking foul shots.

Said this at the beginning of the year and everyone on the board got all pissy... NO KILLER INSTINCT. Just because he's a 90% free throw shooter on the season doesnt mean hes necessarily the guy we want taking the free throws with the game on the line! Whos the best free throw shooter in clutch time?? Cole has proven over and over again hes not that guy. Big difference between free throws up 20 against maryland eastern shore then creighton this yr (AND LAST YR)

 

[UofCT]

The OP is a troll. He goes months without a post and all of a sudden he is blasting our only point guard?

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

The OP is a troll. He goes months without a post and all of a sudden he is blasting our only point guard?

It's always an avalanche of new names after a loss.

 

[UofCT]

It's always an avalanche of new names after a loss.

Seriously. @campcalhoun2009 needs to respect negative nancies like myself who post nonsense year round.