Coppin State

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

This team is actually lower in the KenPom rankings (#351) than CCSU (#348), which is amazing how UConn starts the season with 2 true bottom of the barrel D-1 teams (UConn is #21). Here are the KenPom rankings:

2022 Pomeroy College Basketball Ratings

This year Coppin State has already posted a 58 point loss to Loyola Chicago and a 25 point loss to DePaul. Coppin State was 9-13 last year and the 2 best teams on their schedule, Virginia Tech and Georgetown, handed them losses of 40 and 32 points, respectively. What I remember most about Coppin State is when UConn played them in Brimah's sophomore year in 2014 after the championship he dropped 40, and then in the very next game against Duke, he had 0 points and fouled out in 10 minutes of action. The 40 against Coppin State was almost entirely alley oop dunks which Coppin could not seem to stop.

This figures to be another big game for Sanogo, but I am really interested to watch the growth of AJ. I was intrigued by the way he played against CCSU and I really think that the sky is the limit for him. His FTs actually looked really good and I believe that he will improve his shooting to at least the adequate level and once it gets to the adequate level, he is so good in other areas that he could become the best player on the team, along with Sanogo.

 

[the Blades]

State is coached by former Maryland star and NBA player Juan Dixon , hopefully Uconn takes care of business quick and shoots as good in the XL as they did in Gampel, so they can spread around the minutes and get the newbies some PT. Game is being played at the same time as the Uconn FB (-41 pt underdog) bloodbath expected down at Clemson on SAT. .......

Also I mentioned the Loyola-Chicago score a few day ago. They could be Uconn's 2nd round opponent down in Atlantis since they're in Uconn's bracket vs. Mich St.

SAT Nov 13th....12 noon at the XL Center ...TV: FS2
True on Sanogo, nobody in their line-up with the size to match-up:
( click image to enlarge: )

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

Juan Dixon was a starting guard on Maryland's 2002 NCAA Championship team. I recall him being a pretty good shooter and player.

Coppin State does not appear to have anyone on their roster listed over 215 pounds. The guys who are actually playing minutes at the 4/5 positions seem to be 205 or less. Sanogo is probably 260. Donny Marshall said during the CCSU game that he weighs 240 and there is NO WAY Sanogo weighs the same as him. He described Sanogo as a monster and beast in person. Marshall also put AJ in his top 3 athletes ALL TIME at UConn, the top 2 being Scott Burrell and Ben Gordon.

This game could be like when 205 pound Kentan Facey started at center for an injured Brimah and fouled out in 8 minutes against Tulane's inside players. Sanogo is much more beastly than anyone Tulane had playing against Facey, so this could get ugly for Coppin inside. This might also be a good game for Samson Johnson to get minutes and show he is not as weak as he looked against CCSU.

 

[the Blades]

Juan Dixon was a starting guard on Maryland's 2002 NCAA Championship team. I recall him being a pretty good shooter and player.

Yep they beat Uconn and Caron in the elite 8 at the Carrier Dome for a spot in the FF:

Box Score- Sun, Mar 24, 2002

 

[the Blades]

A couple of notes leading into Sat.....

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

Would have been nice to see debut of Jordan Hawkins tomorrow vs. Coppin State, but I think Sanogo, AJ & Company got this one without him.

 

[the Blades]

Coppin is playing a grueling schedule, they'll be playing the 4th game this week after last nights loss in NJ vs. Rider 81-69. Uconn's got to jump on them quick, they should be worn down...... Also saw Nova played pretty much a 6 man rotation and wore down as they blew a 10 point lead last night at UCLA .

Johnny Juzang, No. 2 UCLA survive overtime thriller to beat No. 4 Villanova

Mick Cronin's Bruins shined in a wild early-season battle between two of the best teams in the country on Friday night.

sports.yahoo.com

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

Also saw Nova played pretty much a 6 man rotation and wore down as they blew a 10 point lead last night at UCLA .

Johnny Juzang, No. 2 UCLA survive overtime thriller to beat No. 4 Villanova

Mick Cronin's Bruins shined in a wild early-season battle between two of the best teams in the country on Friday night.

sports.yahoo.com

I was hoping, as I must for the BE conference power ratings, that Villanova would win last night at UCLA, but that game is or should be a sign on how to beat them, and UConn definitely has the depth to wear them down. Although nobody will ever accuse Donny Marshall of being a neutral and unbiased broadcaster of UConn games and we all know he is a homer, the other night vs. CCSU he went on and on about how he thinks UConn is the team to beat in the Big East, not Villanova. Donny, in making this argument, directly asked the viewer to see past his homerism and accept his analysis. We will see. On another note, I like that we have a homer calling the games. Homers can be fun if you are a fan of the team whose game is being broadcast. As a kid growing up watching Yankees games on WPIX, I kind of got used to the homer style with Phil Rizzuto. Donny has now brought that style back for UConn fans. He is also very knowledgeable about the program, so I hope Fox Sports keeps him on the UConn games.

Speaking of which, when Joe D used to do radio on the UConn games, he may have been the greatest homer of all time, and I Ioved him. I was very disappointed that his run as UConn radio play by play guy was ended. He did tend to blame the refs and bad calls and sometimes went absolute bananas on bad calls even more than most fans do, and I found it comical to listen to at times.

 

[the Blades]

I was hoping, as I must for the BE conference power ratings, that Villanova would win

Then we have the guy, who made the BE and used to make the BE proud, embarrassing the conference again. The more I've listened to him speak, I realize he'll probably never have it as a coach. Not a great communicator, obviously he loses players and they transfer away from him like a sieve. He seems to have alot of Ollie traits as coach. Nice guy, but not to brilliant !

Season's Greetings! Hoyas Open With Loss to Dartmouth

The Big Green extended their lead to 22-8 before Coach Patrick Ewing used his first timeout of the season. Things only got worse as Maryland native and Sidwell friends alum Ryan Cornish caught fire for Dartmouth as they extended their lead to as many as 22 points. The Hoyas went small for the...

sports.yahoo.com

 

[the Blades]

One thing that has showed the first 2 games and we mentioned alot since last year is Gaffney being the better choice as the other starting guard. He's been doing everything from a high asst to TO ratio (11-1) and been hittings his 3's (5-8) which we had talked about, along with just a better feel for the game. But coming off the bench for RJ seems to be the way DH wants to run his rotation, so I get it.

Gaffney finished with 11 points and eight assists.

No. 24 UConn dominates Coppin State 89-54, moves to 2-0

Adama Sanogo kept up his sharp shooting, tying his career high with 20 points as No. 24 UConn beat Coppin State 89-54 Saturday.

sports.yahoo.com

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

Gaffney and AJ might ultimately be the starting guards with Cole off the bench (something I would think is important against teams like Villanova, which had Gillespie doing a number of defenseless post ups against Cole last year). AJ, although he grabbed a manly 9 rebounds yesterday to co-lead the team with Sanogo, is still in developmental stages. I think the game hasn't slowed down for him yet and he plays the game at a different speed than his teammates. Coach mentioned in his postgame presser that he puts a lot of pressure on himself and appeared to be discouraged by his early defensive lapses. I think this kid is going to improve as the season goes on and UConn just needs to stick with him, but I agree that Gaffney's production off the bench is hard to ignore and he might be more of a help to AJ than Cole. Gaffney and Akok were clearly huge off the bench first two games.

More of a disappointment was Polley who hasn't played well or made shots the first two games. Coach thinks he needs to insert him into the game earlier so we will see if that happens but I am surprised by how non-impactful he has been 2 games in a row. Not what you want from your 6th Man of the Year

The jury is still out on the team's overall 3 point shooting. Polley not playing well and the absence of Hawkins has made it look like worse of an issue than it may actually be, but Andy Katz seemed to be harping on this as UConn's team weakness. It may or may not be- we will see.

 

[the Blades]

Gaffney and AJ might ultimately be the starting guards with Cole off the bench

How about RJ and Gaf together ? That's what I was thinking. 2 PG/ Combo's together like the old Uconn days (Bazz and Boat, etc). They both can shoot compared to AJ who still looks ( fill in the blank). Which will open up the court more. Right now it looks like RJ, Adama, Martin, Akok and Gaf are the best offensive unit. Though I think Akok, probably because of the injury, has lost something regarding his shot blocking/ timing.

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

I would definitely agree with RJ/Gaffney starting backcourt right now, but I think AJ should play a lot and also think that once a light bulb goes on for him he will be a starter. At some point AJ will be a beast. On another note Cole's D was great yesterday (he took at least 4 charges), but against teams like Villanova you don't want Cole on Gillespie.

 

[the Blades]

I would definitely agree with RJ/Gaffney starting backcourt right now, but I think AJ should play a lot and also think that once a light bulb goes on for him he will be a starter. At some point AJ will be a beast. On another note Cole's D was great yesterday (he took at least 4 charges), but against teams like Villanova you don't want Cole on Gillespie.

True they're unique, in that they spread the floor out and kinda play position less ball vs. man to man and will post him up by himself on an island. That's where DH needs to play some match-up zone with the bigs underneath. Problem solved. If not he'll be forced to take RJ off the court.