Indiana

[Dominicfrank]

Guys......they are a good team.

Not sure who watched the IU vs FSU game last night but this group at Indiana is hungry, hard working and athletic.

It will be a dog fight and if we dont come to play we could get run out the the gym EARLY.

 

[the Blades]

Speaking of B1G-ACC challenge games ... Miami had Kofi Cockburn and his home team Illinois blown out by 27 points in the first half ...then almost blew it once their little PG got in foul trouble but held on for a 2 point win.

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

The game I watched last night was Louisville-Michigan in which Louisville looked really good and MAYBE the team to beat. They were playing a very good "pack line" defense, essentially a sagging man to man which prevented penetration by Xavier Simpson and Michigan struggled to score against it. Steve Enoch played well, was good on D and shooting mid range jump hook shots with both hands.

Indiana's win against Florida State, which beat Florida on the road and typically plays very good D, was most impressive and they will be a tough opponent. The Big 10 looks exceptionally strong to me.

 

[Dominicfrank]

I wasnt overly impressed by L'Ville. I think Michigan had a great run but #4 was a knee jerk reaction and was not warranted. That was a good win but not really over a #4 team.

I like L'Ville and root for Enoch but I dont think they are a FF team just yet.

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

Indiana has really only beaten one good team (Florida State), at home, and most of the rest of their games were against cupcakes or softer non-conference foes. They are essentially unproven/untested. Street and Smith has them picked 11th of 14 Big Ten teams- behind Illinois and Minnesota and Penn State. Lindy’s has them picked 10th. They were 19-16 last year and 8-12 in the Big Ten. They shot 31-2% from 3 point land last year- 316th in the nation. Street and Smith hasn’t been wrong about any team I have seen this year. Beating this team will not have nearly the cache as the win over Florida by the end of the year.

 

[Dominicfrank]

The eye test looked good. I am worried about how athletic they are.....they fly around.

 

[the Blades]

@

Wiconsin 84 - 64

 

[the Blades]

TUES- 9:00 pm+ (after 1st game of doubleheader)- @ Madison Square Garden, NYC- TV ESPN

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

That’s unfortunate (the loss to Wisconsin) but what did we realistically expect. This is a team picked 10th or 11th in the Big 10. Although the Big 10 is exceptionally strong this year, and I would argue maybe the best conference in the country, does anyone think they will get 10 or 11 teams in the NCAA tourney?

The game was at Wisconsin and they are a tough team to beat on the road.

 

[the Blades]

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

The line opened at Indiana -2.5 but William Hill and some other services now have Indiana -3. The over/under is 143.

 

[12rtackerman12]

Guard play was bad tonight.

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

Guard play was bad tonight.

It was awful. 22 TOs, numerous bad shots and poor decisions. It’s amazing it was a 3 point game

 

[the Blades]

Back to Hero ball again.... with 2 Sr's who don't have a clue how to be a hero or what it takes to win tight games. They don't have the skill level to create a shot when pressured... on top of it. But that wont stop em' choking away games trying to do things that they can't .

 

[CaNOLEE]

Senior Guards 3-17 with 10 turnovers, 7 by Vitale. There has been a trend in all 3 losses.

At least Al contributed 8 assists.

The tougher/smarter team won. They did a better job harassing the ball. No more morale victories.

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

UConn actually outshot and outrebounded Indiana. The 22 TOs created more possessions for Indiana and allowed them to win the game. It seems like Gilbert has a problem being trapped, he is always trying to dribble through the trap and nothing good ever happens. Vital was just forcing the action all night, instead of pulling it back, running offense and playing with poise. Too much hero ball. The guard play has been the decisive factor in all 3 losses so far. It just has not been good enough against the better teams.

BTW- the backup guards- Adams, Bouknight and Gaffney- also laid an egg, and had they gotten anything from these 3 they might have still overcome the poor play of CV and AG. A collective 0 points from these 3. Sid Wilson is the only bench player who scored last night (5 points).

"We just revert to a way that isn't going to allow you to beat good teams," Hurley said. "It's going to be a season full of excruciating losses if we can't fix that."

 

[CaNOLEE]

Christian and Dick Vitale might as well switched jobs last night. Because Both stunk up the gym.

 

[the Blades]

Unfortunately they work hard on D, the frontcourt is much better than anything they had in recent years, but instead of having 2 guys (like Bazz & Boat) who could create & shoot daggers at the end of the shot clock, these are 2 of the worst Uconn's had. (CV's last rush up was so predictable and a run into 2 defenders classic). But they still won't pass or try to breakdown a defender to set up a team mate. And I don't see it getting better because neither Al ( to small) or CV (terrible strait ahead handle) have anything in their skill level that's gonna allow em' to change & be a "go to guy" . Despite not being ready for primetime players and sorely lacking BB IQ wise, they're both legends in their own minds..... So if the young guys don't get better.......

 

[the Blades]

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

It’s a problem that CV and AG can’t really create anything. They would be better as complimentary players if they could just adopt that mindset and not try to do that which they cannot do. Unfortunately, last night Bouknight and Gaffney showed they aren’t ready to play in crunch time in these kinds of eggs. They got a big goose egg out of the backup guards. This was probably the worst collective game of the year for the 5 guards.

 

[the Blades]

It’s a problem that CV and AG can’t really create anything. They would be better as complimentary players if they could just adopt that mindset and not try to do that which they cannot do. Unfortunately, last night Bouknight and Gaffney showed they aren’t ready to play in crunch time in these kinds of eggs. They got a big goose egg out of the backup guards. This was probably the worst collective game of the year for the 5 guards.

Sad but true, Gafney only played 2 mins and had no stats. Besides the 3-17 from CV & AG, if you add the 4 they were 3-22 FG's and 16 TO's. The front court on the other hand was 18-29 ( 62%) ....It's way more like Uconn lost than Indiana won....this is getting to feel like Dyson's SR year where he would shoot or low IQ them out of games.

I don't think alot of fans realized how important Jalen Adams (pro stats) was off the dribble because he would have games he would just disappear and defer to others. He was the only guy who had the skill set to create a shot or make a pass if he got stopped/doubled. BTW...he's been more than capable playing vs. pro's in the G-league for the Pelican's team....he's getting major minutes as a starter w/ 21ppg...50% FG...41% on 3's and almost 5 asst /reb pg.

• Box Score

 

[Calhoun_for_President]

Not to pin all the issues on 1 guy, but Alterique Gilbert is killing the team.
You cannot have point guard play this bad and expect to win close games against quality competition.
Is there no one else that can play PG on this team?
27% from the field as a redshirt junior, this is not D-I caliber

 

[Dominicfrank]

I dont think you can pin it on anyone more than Vital. Gilbert is what he is and plays decent D and had 8 assists. Vital on the other hand did what I feared and that was he let the lights impact his head. He plays selfish and hero ball. He is a cancer to this team for those two reasons. He WANTS to be the great UConn guard but will never even come close.

What bothers me the most is that Hurley knows this and keeps him out there. There were stretches that he had Vital at PG and our lead went away faster than I've ever seen it. Gaff, had 2 mins......I dont care how bad he looked Gaff deserved more than 2 mins because Vital stunk the night up for over 30mins! Hurley needs to understand this ISN'T RHODE ISLAND. We arent in this for moral ANYTHING. Play the kids who will help this team as the season goes. Vital is a lost cause! He is an Ollie kid to the fullest meaning he is all about himself and before anyone gets mad that I harp on the kid......this is about being a good teammate and when he plays hero ball and blatantly disobeys the coaches game plan RIGHT IN FRONT of the coach......well then the COACH NEEDS TO GET HIS BUTT HANDED TO HIM.

Hurley is at fault here guys......he is playing a kid who DOESN'T HELP THE TEAM WIN OR GET BETTER.

 

[CaNOLEE]

Dom, Vital should be a 6th man. He plays with energy/toughness and does some nice hustle things and rebounds well for a guard, but he has delusions of grandeur for sure. I think Hurley respects his grit, but at some point bad decision making/shot selection has to have consequences. Our young guards looked overwhelmed last night as well, so I don’t think it was as easy as just benching him. Hopefully the kids grow up fast.

Totally agree with Blades on how good we’d be with Bazz and Boat instead of Christian and Alt. Josh and Akok kept us in the game and for the third time, the guards let us down big time. I still have some hope for them, especially Gilbert becoming more efficient.

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

Our young guards looked overwhelmed last night as well, so I don’t think it was as easy as just benching him. Hopefully the kids grow up fast.

This was the problem, really. Even with the terrible game from Vital, UConn wins if they get anything at all last night from Adams, Bouknight, or Gaffney, but those 3 did absolutely nothing: 0 points, 0 assists and 4 boards collectively from those 3 guards. If they get anything at all from them last night, the game is a win. Hurley could not go to them late because they looked overwhelmed and not ready.