Chief’s Briefs - Villanova Edition

[ChiefOO]

Chief is very happy to start a new era at Rivals, the place to be for UConn MBB. Now onto the game and the analysis.

Villanova is a very efficient offensive team. Our game had to be tight to get a W. Starting the game with 4 missed FT’s wasn’t a good start toward that objective, although Bouknight was on fire from the field early. Definitely in Villanova’s game plan to post up Gillespie against Cole. This sent Cole to the bench.
Chief wished we put Jackson more on Gillespie, both Cole and Gaffney had problems.

The difficult thing about Villanova is they have a three headed monster who can take you off the dribble, they can kick to good 3 point shooters and guys like Gillespie are money from the line.
Chief did think Danny’s move to full court pressure was a good change up, throwing their offensive rhythm off a little.

We had a real absence of offense when Bouknight went to the bench. Guys look tight and and not relax on their shooting release. Chief was hoping Polley would be more involved in the offense after hitting an early 3. Cole and Whaley wee 2 for 11 from the field

Akok made an early appearance and did not power up inside nor did he get in the flow on either end of the court. Other than 2 plays one game, he has not been able to contribute this season. Both Whaley and Sanogo left their feet on defense too often on pump fakes. Whaley’s offense was a brick layer exhibition.

Towards the end Villanova showed how to both use the shot clock and getting a good shot opportunity after using up clock.
While immensely talented, James showed he would benefit from getting stronger if he stayed another year, which won’t happen but Chief thinks he would benefit from long term. He’s involved in a lot of contact and that brings the risk of injuries and intereferes with his consistency. He must also learn how to counteract defensive adjustments like Villanova threw at him in the second half. Would love to see a full consistent season from him.

 

[the Blades]

We had a real absence of offense when Bouknight went to the bench. Guys look tight and and not relax on their shooting release. Chief was hoping Polley would be more involved in the offense after hitting an early 3.

You can tell right away that they looked tight (missing FT's, SMH) and lacked confidence shooting the rock as a team, unlike the last few games. Then it morphed into not attacking off the dribble and too much dribbling around on the perimeter running out the shot clock. Which played into a slow half court small ball game and right into Nova's hands.

Was the moment to big for them ? Probably..... James getting banged up early seemed to shake up his game after that. Besides Nova's doubles to throw him off. Gotta win out in the next 4 if they want to go to the tourney.

 

[the Blades]

P.S. I know times are tough with the Uconn budget and cuts have to be made..... but how about borrowing an elbow pad from the hockey team to save your leading scorer from getting banged up more than he has too.

 

[ChiefOO]

You can tell right away that they looked tight (missing FT's, SMH) and lacked confidence shooting the rock as a team, unlike the last few games. Then it morphed into not attacking off the dribble and too much dribbling around on the perimeter running out the shot clock. Which played into a slow half court small ball game and right into Nova's hands.

Was the moment to big for them ? Probably..... James getting banged up early seemed to shake up his game after that. Besides Nova's doubles to throw him off. Gotta win out in the next 4 if they want to go to the tourney.

I agree we lose half court games in the 60’s - our identity needs to be a running team.

 

[the Blades]

I agree we lose half court games in the 60’s - our identity needs to be a running team.

Yeah (welcome or welcome back Chief, can't remember if you posted here years ago). I've posted quite a bit about playing attack BB, despite DH wanting to play at a slower pace ( without Bouk) and them being unsuccessful in those games. Then he mentioned this a few games ago....it looked like they reverted back more than it should've at some point in this game.

 

[Kojak13]

I'm with you Chief. I'll be visiting this on the regular.

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

Villanova was playing some kind of matchup zone designed to stop the kind of aggressive rim attacks we would like to see. UConn didn't handle it well. They forced passes and didn't make enough shots. I thought Villanova's D was very good. Like Chief said UConn would have benefitted from Jackson on Gillespie a bit more. His power postups on UConn's smaller guards were embarrassing. Bouknight looked tired second half. He also got picked a few times trying to dribble into the zone. I agree with Chief that although he has immense talent and looks dominant at times he doesn't sustain it consistently and needs to get stronger. He should stay another year. Akok unfortunately just isn't ready for being a contributor. He will be next year.

What has happened to Brendan Adams? He hasn't played in 3 games.

 

[Calhoun_for_President]

Once Villanova realized Bouknight is the only player that can create his own shot, the game was over.
UCONN did nothing offensively the last 10 minutes of the game.
There best play was hoping to get fouled.
Hurley has no answers in the half court against a solid defensive team like Nova.

All Nova did on offense in the 2nd half was take the air out of the ball and find the mismatch.
That was either Gillespie backing down Cole/Gaffney or whoever was being guarded by a UCONN big.

UCONN's bigs can do nothing on the perimeter on both ends of the court and are exposed against any team that plays small ball.

 

[ChiefOO]

Yeah (welcome or welcome back Chief, can't remember if you posted here years ago). I've posted quite a bit about playing attack BB, despite DH wanting to play at a slower pace ( without Bouk) and them being unsuccessful in the those games. Then he mentioned this a few games ago....it looked like they reverted back more than it should've at some point in this game.

View embedded media

Thank you and great to be here. I really think Danny needs to roll out Jackson in all facets of the game. Of course, towards the end he picked up foul number 5, so he needs to be careful that way. I think he can speed up the game for us.
We also need to do a better job of adjusting to the other team’s adjustment. Villanova adjusted their defense on Bouknight and it was hard to detect a counter measure.
I also think he needs to be in better shape. Yes, I get the injury thing but it was an elbow not a lower body injury. He was limited for minutes last game and today seemed very winded - bent over grabbing his shorts. He needs to make sure he is doing things the right way in all facets of his life, so he can get the best out of his talent.

 

[the Blades]

What has happened to Brendan Adams? He hasn't played in 3 games.

Good call, after Cole and (IIRC) Gafney both picked up 2 fouls trying to guard Gillespie's post up in the 1st half, I was thinking about Adams. Maybe bringing in a bigger/stronger guy to check him too. But he's still been MIA after starting those games and getting a ton of PT. Haven't seen a mention or a question about him from any of the beat writers. ( not that he has played well when he got his chance)

PS... and ya knew Josh wouldn't get much run in a game like this, trying to guard bigs that can play off the bounce, so that was no surprise.

 

[CL82]

We competed, and could have won, against the class of the conference. We are still pretty banged up. Bouk isn't 100%, Jackson lost a ton of games and Akok is still working his way back. I can't help but wonder what our record would be right now if we managed to stay healthy. Still, we are dangerous team. There is no one in the Big East we can't beat.

 

[mauconnfans]

Great stuff, Chief. Always look forward to The Briefs!

 

[Calhoun_for_President]

We competed, and could have won, against the class of the conference. We are still pretty banged up. Bouk isn't 100%, Jackson lost a ton of games and Akok is still working his way back. I can't help but wonder what our record would be right now if we managed to stay healthy. Still, we are dangerous team. There is no one in the Big East we can't beat.

We cannot beat Villanova
Villanova shot horribly from three. Probably the worst shooting performance they've had in years.
They missed 6 or 7 wide open in rhythm 3's they will never miss again.

This game was much closer than it should have been.
VIllanova is a 2 or 3 seed.
We are not in their class right now.

 

[the Blades]

Villanova was playing some kind of matchup zone designed to stop the kind of aggressive rim attacks we would like to see. UConn didn't handle it well. They forced passes and didn't make enough shots. I thought Villanova's D was very good.

True, it was a combination. Just listened to DH's post game presser from Ian in the other thread.... he talked about the offensive problems .....shooting, not driving the ball and/or moving it faster. But credited Nova, their switches and good D....No time to spare... on to G-Town. (BTW - Hoyas beat the Hall 81 - 75 @ home today)

 

[Walker_15]

I think Uconn needs to play faster. The offense needs to create easier shots for Bouknight. Hurley needs to get Gaffney going, I don't know if he lacks confidence but they need him to get right. I would also like to see Jackson more involved in the offense and attack the basket. Maybe Uconn needs to start one big.

Gaffney
Bouknight
Martin
Jackson
Whaley

 

[CL82]

We cannot beat Villanova
Villanova shot horribly from three. Probably the worst shooting performance they've had in years.
They missed 6 or 7 wide open in rhythm 3's they will never miss again.

This game was much closer than it should have been.
VIllanova is a 2 or 3 seed.
We are not in their class right now.

Disagree. Hopefully we'll get another shot at them late in the BET.

 

[temery.]

Chief, wishing you the best over here. The door is always open for you in the other neighborhood.

 

[ChiefOO]

We competed, and could have won, against the class of the conference. We are still pretty banged up. Bouk isn't 100%, Jackson lost a ton of games and Akok is still working his way back. I can't help but wonder what our record would be right now if we managed to stay healthy. Still, we are dangerous team. There is no one in the Big East we can't beat.

Chief watched Bouknight closely and he really plays a little reckless in terms of being in a lot of collissions. That’s not good since he’s not built like Martin or Sanogo. I think if we got in a smoother offensive flow with more transition there would be less of that.
Who would have thought we would have outshot them by 3% from three but we shot only 25% from there and 36% from FG ourselves.
Villanova had 7 steals compared to 1 for us, another surprise.

 

[alexd..]

What is going on? Are we running with two boards now?

 

[ChiefOO]

Great stuff, Chief. Always look forward to The Briefs!

Thanks Mauconnfans. Villanova is probably the most difficult team to come back from late in the game, they use the shot clock so well and identify mismatches.

 

[ChiefOO]

Chief, wishing you the best over here. The door is always open for you in the other neighborhood.

Thanks for the well wishes Tom. I appreciate it.

 

[Deepster.]

Not sure if I have it in me to juggle two message boards but Deep will give it his best shot.

 

[CL82]

Not sure if I have it in me to juggle two message boards but Deep will give it his best shot.

I'm fine with it as long as hangings stay on the BY.


(Seriously, though it is good to read the Briefs without the nonsense.)

 

[ChiefOO]

I think Uconn needs to play faster. The offense needs to create easier shots for Bouknight. Hurley needs to get Gaffney going, I don't know if he lacks confidence but they need him to get right. I would also like to see Jackson more involved in the offense and attack the basket. Maybe Uconn needs to start one big.

Gaffney
Bouknight
Martin
Jackson
Whaley

I see Jackson as a point forward but is PG out of the question? That would be really interesting, not sure how it would work? Andre needs to be in the gym all summer shooting not dunking - he’s got that down. I believe he will too.

 

[CaNOLEE]

We made their PG look like Corliss Williamson. BAdams would have at least given him a bigger body to bully.

Bouk needs to get stronger, physically and mentally.

 

[Calhoun_for_President]

I think Uconn needs to play faster. Maybe Uconn needs to start one big.

Gaffney
Bouknight
Martin
Jackson
Whaley

Maybe?
Been saying this for months
No good team in basketball today starts 2 players that cannot defend or score on the perimeter.
UCONN does this for 30+ minutes a game and DH wonders why they suck on offense.

Explain the point of starting 2 bigs that cant score against a team that plays no bigs.
What matchups are you exploiting here DH?

This guy can recruit well enough to dominate the Northeast Conference and A-10
Until proven otherwise that's all he can do.
Against equal talent he gives UCONN no advantage with his lack of coaching ability.

 

[CL82]

I see Jackson as a point forward but is PG out of the question? That would be really interesting, not sure how it would work? Andre needs to be in the gym all summer shooting not dunking - he’s got that down. I believe he will too.

I'd like to see him bring up the ball against preasure. He strikes me as more of a north/south than an east/west kind of guy.

 

[Kojak13]

I agree it would be great for Bouknight to get another year in at UConn. Great for fans, great for UConn, and great for Bouk. I would just love to see a full healthy season and a shot at a banner. He does seem fragile and if he's getting banged around by college kids I don't see how he'll be able to go this soon. I wonder if he gets another injury or looks vulnerable, will that mean a return is more likely.

I registered over here during one of my mysterious bans so I'll keep coming back.

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

The reason Bouknight is getting banged around is the aggressive full speed method of his rim attacks. Sort of reminds me of Jerome Dyson, who had one of the most reckless rim attacking styles I ever saw, but a better body for contact than Bouknight. Dyson committed many offensive fouls on his drives, seemed to have no regard for his body, and played through nickel and dime injuries his entire UConn career due to this playing style. Rodney Purvis was similar as well, but also had a better body to be playing that style. Rodney had major IQ problems distinguishing what was an open driving lane from what was going to be an easy charging call once the lane closed up quickly, and it hampered his development. Bouknight seems to have a much more natural feel for reading defenses, yet still attacks straight line and full speed more than he should.

It should be noted that Bouknight actually sustained his elbow injury in the Marquette game while diving on the floor for a loose ball, and then was fallen onto by a Marquette player. You do not like to see star players get hurt on such plays, even though the extra hustle on such plays is appreciated. It reminds me of a few years ago watching Yankees star OF Aaron Judge diving for a looping, lazy fly ball in the late innings of a meaningless late September game, causing a cracked rib that did not heal and caused him to go on the DL for an extended period of time the following season. You like the hustle, but a star player has to pick his spots and stay in the lineup, otherwise it hurts the team, period. Bouknight missing one month of this season hurt this team very substantially.

In addition to making his body stronger to endure contact going to the rim and to finish through contact which he does not always do, staying in school would enable him to learn better judgments on driving and how to reduce and avoid contact. Bouknight is a very quick/fast guard and he is going full speed on a lot of these collisions and sometimes changes of speed and direction can minimize and avoid contact. I often see Paige Bueckers on the women's side using Eurostep maneuvers to reduce contact on her lean body and also cause the defender to get called for reaching fouls when she drives by. Bouknight would be well served, because of his superior speed, to utilize such maneuvers to both reduce contact and increase defensive fouling while reducing offensive fouling.

 

[Fishy.]

We would all love to see Bouk back at UConn but let's be realistic, it isn't going to happen. He will be making 7 figures next year.

 

[ChiefOO]

We would all love to see Bouk back at UConn but let's be realistic, it isn't going to happen. He will be making 7 figures next year.

He will, but I guess the question is what’s his draft upside and the money differential? I know the differences at certain picks but I don’t know assuming he is 8-15 now what he would be if he came back? Not worth it unless he could break top 5. From a basketball development standpoint it would be great if he came back stronger and more consistent and lead the team deep into the tournament. But, agree tough for anyone to walk away from 7 figures sure thing for lots of maybes.

 

[ChiefOO]

I'd like to see him bring up the ball against preasure. He strikes me as more of a north/south than an east/west kind of guy.

That’s what we need more north /south less east /west weave.

 

[the Blades]

We would all love to see Bouk back at UConn but let's be realistic, it isn't going to happen. He will be making 7 figures next year.

Yes.... for all the new/old Uconn fans posting (again) we had this discussion last year....(it still applies)
Chance of Bouk going pro .....So yeah it's time. Only X-factor is like Canolee posted a few days back, he needs to show he's " more like a Cal Ripken (iron man) than AD or Kyrie. " Not for Uconn's sake but for the team that will bump his earnings the higher in the 1st round he gets drafted.

p.s. I thought 2020 was weird, but 2021 ?.....it's been a long damn time between drinks for some of the names that drifted over..... and well played Red and Fishy, don't be afraid to face your fears....

 

[BoneyardBanned]

Chief, wishing you the best over here. The door is always open for you in the other neighborhood.

LOL a Boneyard divided can not stand. Funny it was torn ansunder just from people posting frowny face emojis under Chief’s insane ramblings.

Kudos to everyone who came over here to help feed Chief’s mental illnesses (yes, multiple). It’s good to see the Chief Cucks stick together (CLoser82) cough cough.

 

[BoneyardBanned]

Lol @ChiefOO

 

[BoneyardBanned]

Losing all those sweet pageviews makes @temery

will save time on moderating the responses to a delusional man with an unhealthy obsession with a dancer in baltimore.

maybe chief should get in all that hot sauce revenue. you are missing out bigtime chief. how in the world do i get to read what the voices in your head say for free.

me

you


i didnt think anything could be worse than muh chugo dot net but here we are.

 

[ChiefOO]

For all

LOL a Boneyard divided can not stand. Funny it was torn ansunder just from people posting frowny face emojis under Chief’s insane ramblings.

Kudos to everyone who came over here to help feed Chief’s mental illnesses (yes, multiple). It’s good to see the Chief Cucks stick together (CLoser82) cough cough.

The reason why I left, was continual loss of user functionality (edit ability to fix typos, Briefs being quarantine for hours, I on everyone’s post being converted to Chief, on and off access , etc).
While all these things were disappointing, as their posts in this thread demonstrate, we have no animosity against each other. Nor do I have a role in the management of either board nor want one. But, all these things prevented me from posting about basketball, so I left.
The faces happened a couple years ago and had nothing to do with me leaving. . . If you don’t want to to read my mentally ill posts why follow me here and actually pay to set up a membership to do so - talk about a mental illness?
Now back to basketball and no smack on my threads either way between Rivals and BY.

 

[BoneyardBanned]

For all

The reason why I left, was continual loss of user functionality (edit ability to fix typos, Briefs being quarantine for hours, I on everyone’s post being converted to Chief, on and off access , etc).
While all these things were disappointing, as their posts in this thread demonstrate, we have no animosity against each other. Nor do I have a role in the management of either board nor want one. But, all these things prevented me from posting about basketball, so I left.
The faces happened a couple years ago and had nothing to do with me leaving. . . If you don’t want to to read my mentally ill posts why follow me here and actually pay to set up a membership to do so - talk about a mental illness?
Now back to basketball and no smack on my threads either way between Rivals and BY.

Dude its free to post frowny faces at you. . You are paying to read this nonsense? Does Dan know you split from the BY? Is he as upset with Tom’s unfair anti-Chief policies.

Are you gonna threaten to sue me too?

Chief00 v Mean Emojis.

I hope you have a better lawyer than CL. Maybe Ollie’s lawyers will take you on as a client.

I’m not sure what is more , that you believe there is some huge demand for your simple minded observations or that there are a small number of people like CL82 who truly believe in your fake insider nonsense.

Say hi to Drummond for us the next time he visits you in your imagination. Alas, it’s 11:11 and I have a game starting that I need to attend, send my best to Bunkey when you guys play Roblox later.

 

[GTcam]

chief dont let these immature millennials ruin the awesome work you have put in to this program. they are the same individuals who bring KO into every conversation and constantly talk down on uconn. will continue to follow you here

 

[BoneyardBanned]

chief dont let these immature millennials ruin the awesome work you have put in to this program. they are the same individuals who bring KO into every conversation and constantly talk down on uconn. will continue to follow you here

ok boomer.

oh god are you gonna tell is more stories about how your daddy used to take you to soccer games

we got the cucks like CL and we also got the cringe in the house with GT