Just too many guys not producing or developing as hoped has caught up to them. They don't have enough good ball-handlers. Mahaney has become increasingly unplayable with the live TOs he makes bringing the ball up against moderate pressure. The team is soft defensively and has been most of the year, prone to high numbers of fouls and rim attacks. These issues make the team unlikely to make a deep NCAA tournament run, assuming they do make the tournament, which isn't looking like a lock at the moment. They need to do a roster re-evaluation at the end of this season. They need more ballhandlers and guys who can really defend. Other than Reed, the UConn bench hasn't been very productive. It has to be bolstered with proven players. I know they thought Mahaney was proven, but he has been miscast as a PG and is undersized as a SG. They just blew it with him, and have to move on. He is a mid major player.

The truth is that other than against Creighton which applied ZERO defensive pressure against them, UConn has looked brutal handling the ball against any type of defensive pressure for weeks now, and the TOs are all coming in bunches in critical game situations. When they used it, PG-by-committee did not look so good today, and other than from the hobbled Diarra, UConn got absolutely nothing off the bench today. Too many guys are nonfactors- Mahaney, Reed, Stewart and Ross all were complete NFs today. At the end of the year they need to do a major roster re-assessment because I do not know if they have enough ballhandlers or defenders on the roster.

I read 2 different NBA Mock Drafts which had McNeeley going #11 to the Spurs where he joins Steph Castle:

the Blades said:

Now if DH will just give way to some zone D to stop the EZ pass drives to the hoop his man to man... keeps giving up ....

Click to expand...

After they went down by 14, UConn's defense was not bad, and they played no zone nor should they have against this team- despite massive foul trouble again. Creighton actually looked gassed and out of synch with one another in the second half, and zoning gassed teams just enable them to catch much needed wind. Both teams shot around 40% FGs (and UConn was 6-26/23% on 3s). The only stat UConn won was rebounding, and only by 39-36. UConn took 20 more FGs, which was the main reason they won the game.

As far as a PG by Committee starting with McNeeley and also involving Ball, Mahaney and Nowell, I like the idea. I actually thought we would see more of Nowell but he is apparently hurt. I think ultimately he could be the guy they use to relieve McNeeley the most.

St. John's went down at Villanova tonight, which was not a surprise. If they go down Sunday to Creighton, UConn will be in a position to tie them the following Sunday at Storrs South. There is also the possible but unlikely chance that SJU goes down at DePaul.

Villanova shot 53% and made 11 3s, which overcame -6 on the boards. SJU also made 11 3s, but on 37 shots- 29%, and they should not be shooting that many shooting them at 29%.

That was the greatest individual performance by a UConn player in lifting his team up to a difficult victory since Kemba Walker did it multiple times in 2010-2011. Liam's performance was Kembaesque in that you believed he would score or get fouled or get a rebound and get fouled and UConn would get a bucket when they needed it. To be doing all of what he did as a freshman, and on the road at Creighton, which blew out our national champion team last year, was remarkable! UConn needed every one of Liam's 38 points and 10 boards to win this game.

the Blades said:

Speaking of....not good for the ball handling dept.
Login to view embedded media

Click to expand...

In the last 8 minutes of the Marquette game there were heavy doses of Ball and Ross as primary ball-handlers. Which is not what you want. But you can't always get what you want.
Login to view embedded media

Plus UConn has to deal with this UConn-Killer who has gotten hot lately:

We will see what happens. I do think that it's pretty remarkable what Ricky P has done with that team in 2 years. Let's not forget they only lost to UConn by 5 in the Big East Tourney last year. That was the last game of the season any opponent was within sniffing distance of UConn. Also think it's amazing he is in 1st place with the worst 3 point shooting team in the Big East. It's older school basketball, and all of their defensive and rebounding stats are on point. In the games I have watched them in this year, they have looked very tough and resilient to me. I am expecting a great game, way better ballhandling is needed by UConn than the last game at Marquette.

A win against St. John's now looms much larger because SJ is threatening to run away with the regular season title, although their remaining schedule is very very tough. In 1st place for the first time since 1984-1985 team with the legendary starting 5 of Mark Jackson, Chris Mullin, Walter Berry, Willie Glass and Bill Wennington. What a great team that was. However they still have 2 games with UConn, 1 in Storrs, the other in Storrs South.

Excellent first half between Marquette and St. John's ends with Marquette up by 1. Very interesting matchup because Marquette doesn't take transfer portal guys and develops their own recruits, whereas St. John's is a team of transfer portal acquisitions, although partly out of necessity because of what Pitino inherited.

Marquette showed zone a few times in the first half, but teams that don't play a lot of zone don't do it well, and St. John's found gaps in their zone. They are not really using it as a main line strategy as opposed to showing it.

Marquette getting a lot out of their young players Lowery and Parham.