The half glass full.............

[djct1999]

If the last five games are an indication, when playing well UConn is atleast 15 pts better than teams in this league. To me, the issue isn't 3pt defense. Its a stagnant offense. We never really were a good half court team and what has worked of late is getting in transition. By speeding up the game, our athleticism, which is unmatched in the AAC and I believe most of the country, truly takes over. What happened with Temple and Tulsa is by trying to take time off the clock and preserving a big lead, we had guys simply standing still for 25 seconds. The only way motion offense works is when all five guys are moving. When UConn becomes stagnant, they are predictable and very easy to defend. By slowing the game down, we actually play into the other teams hand. We give them a chance. The last two games illustrate perfectly how deadly we are when we attack and how inept we are when we don't. I think this is an easy fix.

 

[Edward Sargent]

If the last five games are an indication, when playing well UConn is atleast 15 pts better than teams in this league. To me, the issue isn't 3pt defense. Its a stagnant offense. We never really were a good half court team and what has worked of late is getting in transition. By speeding up the game, our athleticism, which is unmatched in the AAC and I believe most of the country, truly takes over. What happened with Temple and Tulsa is by trying to take time off the clock and preserving a big lead, we had guys simply standing still for 25 seconds. The only way motion offense works is when all five guys are moving. When UConn becomes stagnant, they are predictable and very easy to defend. By slowing the game down, we actually play into the other teams hand. We give them a chance. The last two games illustrate perfectly how deadly we are when we attack and how inept we are when we don't. I think this is an easy fix.

Yep and each shot clock violation or wild contested three results in a five point swing. Thats how we lose big leads in no time

 

[uconngb]

If the last five games are an indication, when playing well UConn is atleast 15 pts better than teams in this league. To me, the issue isn't 3pt defense. Its a stagnant offense. We never really were a good half court team and what has worked of late is getting in transition. By speeding up the game, our athleticism, which is unmatched in the AAC and I believe most of the country, truly takes over. What happened with Temple and Tulsa is by trying to take time off the clock and preserving a big lead, we had guys simply standing still for 25 seconds. The only way motion offense works is when all five guys are moving. When UConn becomes stagnant, they are predictable and very easy to defend. By slowing the game down, we actually play into the other teams hand. We give them a chance. The last two games illustrate perfectly how deadly we are when we attack and how inept we are when we don't. I think this is an easy fix.

I think this is a great point. We have a hard time playing with a lead because we always seem to go into keep away mode too early and end up getting bad shots (and sometimes, NO shot). Have to keep attacking.

 

[tentoes4rings]

I think this is a great point. We have a hard time playing with a lead because we always seem to go into keep away mode too early and end up getting bad shots (and sometimes, NO shot). Have to keep attacking.

The one exception I believe was one of the Memphis games. We kept our foot on the pedal and kept exploiting their press by throwing deep down the court and getting dunks in transition. We clearly are a completely different team in transition, some teams just do a good job of taking that away.

 

[Dogbreath2U]

I think this is an easy fix.

If it was easy, it would have been done by now. The only way I see it getting fixed would be for KO to really put the ball in JA's hands and not act like we have 3-4 interchangeable point guards. And JA is not ready for that, so it will be messy and KO would run the risk of losing more games due to freshman mistakes. I am ready for that risk as SG is just not quick enough. Having said that, I really don't like the sloppy showboating risks that JA takes, often without reason. I felt the same way about Shabazz as a freshman, so I'll temper that concern some.

 

[OkaForPrez]

We got our third second top 50 rpi win of the year. That's a pretty nice glass half full outcome.

 

[2Husky]

I'm more willing to live with JA making freshman mistakes, often by trying a home run play than I am watching SG dribble the air out of the ball hoping the defense will get as bored and leave before putting up a badly contested shot. at least one of those two options will work sometimes, and its also more exciting to watch.

 

[BFieldHusky]

We got our third second top 50 rpi win of the year. That's a pretty nice glass half full outcome.

And Michigan sits at 51 in the RPI, so hopefully they move back into the Top 50. With 3 games left against SMU/Cincy, opportunities are there. And a chance to beat Houston which would be another Top 100 RPI win.

 

[upstater]

If the last five games are an indication, when playing well UConn is atleast 15 pts better than teams in this league. To me, the issue isn't 3pt defense. Its a stagnant offense. We never really were a good half court team and what has worked of late is getting in transition. By speeding up the game, our athleticism, which is unmatched in the AAC and I believe most of the country, truly takes over. What happened with Temple and Tulsa is by trying to take time off the clock and preserving a big lead, we had guys simply standing still for 25 seconds. The only way motion offense works is when all five guys are moving. When UConn becomes stagnant, they are predictable and very easy to defend. By slowing the game down, we actually play into the other teams hand. We give them a chance. The last two games illustrate perfectly how deadly we are when we attack and how inept we are when we don't. I think this is an easy fix.

I agree the offense stalled late. But they still scored 41 points in the second half. And Tulsa shot 62% and scored 52 points in the second half.

Surely the biggest problem is defensive-related.

I made this same argument with the Temple game. The biggest problems in the second half were defensive.

 

[gtcam]

Did you notice UConn stagnated in both the Temple and Tulane games when both opponents threw variations of the zone against them?
UConn eats up standard zones when the work the middle, and the burn man to man but those hybrid zones make them look like deer in headlights.
I swear AAC opponents have specialty UConn zones

 

[Palatine]

Making uncontested lay ups would be a good start. I've never seen a team miss so many bunnies. Start making one foot shots and these games are much easier.

 

[SubbaBub]

Glass half full is we are 6-7 vs the Top 100 with no sub 100 losses. If we finish over .500 with no sub 150/200 losses then we are certain to be in the dance.

The lulls (can we call 20 point swings lulls?) and there have been many this year, are mostly a breakdown of responsibilities on both ends. Too many guys have go-to moves when they get in trouble that are very low percentage plays. Hamilton, that foul line jump float bullsnot will get you benched in a HS game. Knock it off. Same for you Rodney, driving into the paint and not getting either a foul or an easy bucket is a playground garbage play. Facey/Brimah may a bunny, please. Which brings us to Gibbs. Sterling, you seem like a nice guy, but you simply can't dribble out 10-15 seconds of the shot clock, fade to the middle and throw up a contested three. Not at this level and not on this team. You simply aren't good enough. It's a bad shot for you, it was a bad shot for Bazz and it was a bad shot for Kemba. They made more of them because they are better players and they also didn't do it as their first option.

The defensive lapses are due to the missed shots and poor transition defense, Hamilton and Gibbs are the worst culprits. The lock down half court we've seen for stretches shows you can all defend if you work together. None of you are great rebounders, so an honest effort is all we can ask.

You've built, blown, and recouped 20 point leads at least half a dozen times this season. It is a testament to both the talent and lack of focus. The fortunes of the team will depend solely upon how long you can maintain focus.

 

[3rdbass]

If the last five games are an indication, when playing well UConn is atleast 15 pts better than teams in this league. To me, the issue isn't 3pt defense. Its a stagnant offense. We never really were a good half court team and what has worked of late is getting in transition. By speeding up the game, our athleticism, which is unmatched in the AAC and I believe most of the country, truly takes over. What happened with Temple and Tulsa is by trying to take time off the clock and preserving a big lead, we had guys simply standing still for 25 seconds. The only way motion offense works is when all five guys are moving. When UConn becomes stagnant, they are predictable and very easy to defend. By slowing the game down, we actually play into the other teams hand. We give them a chance. The last two games illustrate perfectly how deadly we are when we attack and how inept we are when we don't. I think this is an easy fix.

This definitely led to the foul disparity in the game. When you don't attack you don't go to the line for easy points. It was once 24-2 before we were fouled and forced to go to the line with the lead. That showed we were just holding the ball and not attacking. That isn't good offense especially with only one player who can beat his man off the dribble.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

If this were mid-late December I would be thrilled with the prospects of this team in March. We can look great on defense and very good on offense for long stretches against quality competition. What is lacking is consistency/sustainability in both; each of which is correctable, but in mid February I don't see how they can be fully corrected by tournament time. we also lack leadership/confidence during crunch time which is what has cost us in many close games and what has allowed us to completely wilt in our last two games.

This team can in spurts hang with anyone in the country and is capable of putting a game together that would scare any opponent. I don't see the mental toughness that is necessary to string a long run (such as the 2011 BET or the 2011 & 2014 NCAA's).

 

[Tdaley]

People like the criticize the refereeing in our league which is pretty bad but this team does not know how to get to the free throw line. We need Kemba Walker to come back and give a day seminar on how to get the foul line. Nolan knows how to draw a charge but not much else. Miller can get a call or two down low but none of other bigs can do that. And our guards never at the line until the very end of the game. Maybe we ought to send them all to acting class. Hamilton should get to the line at least ten times a game with his ability to operate close to the paint area. But that hardly ever happens. At one point last night Tulsa had taken 22 free throws to UConn's 2 free throws. Its hard to win games that way.

 

[blackbird]

Did you notice UConn stagnated in both the Temple and Tulane games when both opponents threw variations of the zone against them?
UConn eats up standard zones when the work the middle, and the burn man to man but those hybrid zones make them look like deer in headlights.
I swear AAC opponents have specialty UConn zones

Uconn Teams have traditionally struggled with all zones. AJ and Adrien could bust them their senior season, and Giffey and Napier could bust them their senior year. That and inbounds plays have been achellies heal.

The sad thing is, there have been a few games where Hamilton and JA could were breaking it well, but they're young.

Glass half full..this is a really talented team, and the most talented players are quite young. They should make the tournament and they could get hot at the right time. And maybe squeaking out a win after giving up a big lead will help the team's confidence in that area.

 

[BoatShow]

Uconn Teams have traditionally struggled with all zones. AJ and Adrien could bust them their senior season, and Giffey and Napier could bust them their senior year. That and inbounds plays have been achellies heal.

The sad thing is, there have been a few games where Hamilton and JA could were breaking it well, but they're young.

Glass half full..this is a really talented team, and the most talented players are quite young. They should make the tournament and they could get hot at the right time. And maybe squeaking out a win after giving up a big lead will help the team's confidence in that area.

I don't get how our go-to in bounds seems to be throwing a lazy lob to Brimah in the corner. Like aren't guys with NBA pedigrees supposed to run great plays on our of bounds plays?

 

[OkaForPrez]

I just rewatched the last 10 min. I didn't get to pay close attention live as I was at a family party. Outside of the blown layup by Gibbs that lead to a 5 pt swing, I didn't really have a problem with any of our play. Tulsa was down so big they packed their defense and begged us to take jump shots, on the other end our close outs were mostly fine they just caught fire which opened up the driving lanes.

They were shooting out of their minds and still only pulled within arms length. I think this was a solid win. Not perfect for sure, but it had a far different feel than temple.

 

[Mots010]

Our team is obviously flawed, but they don't give Tulsa any points for cutting a 20 point lead to a 3 point lead, and never even having a chance to tie. We've been on the other end of that a few times this year and I prefer this result. It's one of our better wins this year so take it and move on.

 

[Huskygamble19]

If the last five games are an indication, when playing well UConn is atleast 15 pts better than teams in this league. To me, the issue isn't 3pt defense. Its a stagnant offense. We never really were a good half court team and what has worked of late is getting in transition. By speeding up the game, our athleticism, which is unmatched in the AAC and I believe most of the country, truly takes over. What happened with Temple and Tulsa is by trying to take time off the clock and preserving a big lead, we had guys simply standing still for 25 seconds. The only way motion offense works is when all five guys are moving. When UConn becomes stagnant, they are predictable and very easy to defend. By slowing the game down, we actually play into the other teams hand. We give them a chance. The last two games illustrate perfectly how deadly we are when we attack and how inept we are when we don't. I think this is an easy fix.

that is just a testament to why playing NOT to lose by slowing down the game IS the reason THAT you lose. Looking at all the games that are played in this fashion, you can see that man y are losing games.

 

[huskyharry]

I don't get how our go-to in bounds seems to be throwing a lazy lob to Brimah in the corner. Like aren't guys with NBA pedigrees supposed to run great plays on our of bounds plays?

Our players don't set good screens and don't make hard cuts to the right area...two critical skills for inbounds plays to work.