Is the Boatshow' ing for the NIT ?
- Thread starter the Blades
- Start date
This means Samuel will have to start, Purvis will need to handle a lot and maybe Hamilton too. Expect ASU and other teams to press UConn once they watch tape and see how these guys handle the ball.
Well if Boat doesn't play he'll be very prophetic with his " I didn't come back to play in the NIT" comment.
Well we are maybe going to get a sneak preview of the team without Boatright and maybe that is a good thing. The other guys will all need to pick up their games playing against not so great teams, none of whom made the NCAA tourney either because their record sucked or their RPI or both. So Boat being hurt may allow these guys to figure out and play for roles on next year's team. Samuel in particular will have an opportunity to step up. Teams will continue to dare him to shoot because he is a complete non factor shooting any jumpshots medium or deep. Purvis will need to handle better, Calhoun will need to handle better and make more than 33% of his 3 balls and give UConn something on defense. Brimah and Nolan both need to prove they can stay on the floor without fouling every other possession. And Lubin may have the biggest opportunity of all of them.
I agree it's a good test drive to play without Boat for the others. As you said, wish Samuels could get a little something going with his shot. He's the only one who can really handle the ball for more than 4 dibbles ( as long as he doesn't force it into the lane) and he is a decent FT shooter, (76 % 3rd behind Boat and Cassell who shot 80%) which you need from a PG, especially at the end of games.
For now at best he's a D guy and end game FT shooter, but I'd hope he could become a poor man's version of Taliek Brown, with better FT's... something TB could never do.( career 57%). And as you said Omar( 19 asst. to 25 TO's...12/ 31 the year B4) and Purvis ( 37 to 57 ) have terrible asst to TO ratio's as little as they have to run the offense, so that needs to be cleaned up. At least T-Sam is a plus in that dept (at 49/45) but he needs to be better( 24/18 as a FR).
Also Facey could be back, if so they'll have a little more depth in the front court tonight, still don't know if Hamilton will be back from his grandmothers funeral( condolences) ...he was supposed to take a red eye so even if he is he could be exhausted from the travel and emotion.
Here's some stuff from KO and Purvis:
Some interesting words from Kevin Ollie, Rodney Purvis(is it strange practicing without Boatright, Hamilton, Facey?)
Purvis..... "Yeah, it is. But that's what you have other players for, other Division 1 players for. Terrence is gonna have
to step up really, really big . "His number hasn't been called that much this year, because of the greatness of Boatright.
I just feel like he's got to be ready to step up and be ready to make plays for us..I'm not sure if Daniel's gonna come back."
This post was edited on 3/18 8:31 AM by the Blades
For now at best he's a D guy and end game FT shooter, but I'd hope he could become a poor man's version of Taliek Brown, with better FT's... something TB could never do.( career 57%). And as you said Omar( 19 asst. to 25 TO's...12/ 31 the year B4) and Purvis ( 37 to 57 ) have terrible asst to TO ratio's as little as they have to run the offense, so that needs to be cleaned up. At least T-Sam is a plus in that dept (at 49/45) but he needs to be better( 24/18 as a FR).
Also Facey could be back, if so they'll have a little more depth in the front court tonight, still don't know if Hamilton will be back from his grandmothers funeral( condolences) ...he was supposed to take a red eye so even if he is he could be exhausted from the travel and emotion.
Here's some stuff from KO and Purvis:
Some interesting words from Kevin Ollie, Rodney Purvis(is it strange practicing without Boatright, Hamilton, Facey?)
Purvis..... "Yeah, it is. But that's what you have other players for, other Division 1 players for. Terrence is gonna have
to step up really, really big . "His number hasn't been called that much this year, because of the greatness of Boatright.
I just feel like he's got to be ready to step up and be ready to make plays for us..I'm not sure if Daniel's gonna come back."
This post was edited on 3/18 8:31 AM by the Blades
UConn will need to play bigger if Facey is back. Samuel, Purvis and Calhoun may start at the 1-2-3 and I have a feeling Danny Guest will get more than a few minutes, unless Cassell is ready to play. 4 guys for 3 positions. Should be interesting. The good news is that ASU is really not that formidable of an opponent, and the game is at Gampel.
42 minutes ago
" No Boatright tonight. Facey will play. And if this were an NCAA tourney game, I doubt Boatright would play tonight, either. He's hurt, folks. "
This post was edited on 3/18 6:37 PM by the Blades
" No Boatright tonight. Facey will play. And if this were an NCAA tourney game, I doubt Boatright would play tonight, either. He's hurt, folks. "
This post was edited on 3/18 6:37 PM by the Blades
The team needs to be force-fed and force-developed without Boatright, and now is the time to do it. I think it's sad if Boat's career ends this way, but he had a great career, and it's now time to see whether the supporting cast can step up and be the men we hoped they could be.
This Uconn team looks lost...so easy to wear them down..just play em' strait up on D in front of them until they self destruct.
Purvis's sloppy passes turn into lay-ups... Samuel is dribbling around trying to defer to a scorer but there aren't any who are
consistent enough (Purvis is 3-10) or can create an open shot..pretty ugly...hope Cassell gets in shape because we're gonna
need him next year...the simple fundamentals looks so bad....anyway hope we see a better 2nd half....
This post was edited on 3/18 9:34 PM by the Blades
Purvis's sloppy passes turn into lay-ups... Samuel is dribbling around trying to defer to a scorer but there aren't any who are
consistent enough (Purvis is 3-10) or can create an open shot..pretty ugly...hope Cassell gets in shape because we're gonna
need him next year...the simple fundamentals looks so bad....anyway hope we see a better 2nd half....
This post was edited on 3/18 9:34 PM by the Blades
Blades,
In the last 4 games UConn has played, for stretches, some of the worst offensive basketball I have ever seen. They are able to get away with it if they keep the stretches short and play solid defense the whole game, but it is getting hard to watch these really long offensive droughts in which there is abominable shot selection, poor ball movement, bad/rushed decisions, bad ballhandling, and no deadeye 3 point shooter to bail them out. It's been a suckfest.
In the last 4 games UConn has played, for stretches, some of the worst offensive basketball I have ever seen. They are able to get away with it if they keep the stretches short and play solid defense the whole game, but it is getting hard to watch these really long offensive droughts in which there is abominable shot selection, poor ball movement, bad/rushed decisions, bad ballhandling, and no deadeye 3 point shooter to bail them out. It's been a suckfest.
Better 2nd half....My overall view....
The dribbling by Purvis (5 TO's) is still tough to watch..especially when he has to create but he has alot of plus elements.
19 pts, 5 STEALS always solid on D.
T-Sam had an exceptable game and made some useful plays ( 4-5 Fg's 2-2 FT's) 6 assts.only 2 TO's and 4 rebs.....
had a few bad D possessions in probably the most minutes (35) he's played since HS. but he showed he can be a
rotation guy
Nice game overall by Phil, he almost looked like a real player.. and scored. Still don't have a big who can box out and get
a rebound.... on top of Brimah, who was stinking up the joint, thinking that just because he gets the ball passed to him low
on the box he has to shoot. Even if the shot is terrible and it's a force.... PASS the rock out son if nothing is THERE !
Facey and Lubin ??? who knows what they are or will become......
Daniel was Daniel... he's gonna get even better, especially giving a solid effort overall running on fumes.....still
the only rebounder and best playmaker coming back.
Which leads me to Omar...what exactly is his skill set ?????????????? He can't dribble or pass a lick, can't
rebound...can't play D and KO had to use a walk-on because he is so limited.... yeah he hit a 3 pointer...... but so what
.. .so can hundreds of other D-1 and D-2 players....he also missed a wide open shot right after that....He's got to be one of
the worst wings ( and undersized what is he 6-4.5 ") we seen here in 25 years.... I'd take Willie McCloud, Lyman Depriest
or a host of other guys that played tough D and at least rebounded. If his skill set is supposed to be as a shooter, KO's got
to find one this summer. Career 37 % FG's and 30% on 3's with no other tangible skill ain't gonna cut it if this team wants
to get better...
Box score
This post was edited on 3/19 9:23 AM by the Blades
The dribbling by Purvis (5 TO's) is still tough to watch..especially when he has to create but he has alot of plus elements.
19 pts, 5 STEALS always solid on D.
T-Sam had an exceptable game and made some useful plays ( 4-5 Fg's 2-2 FT's) 6 assts.only 2 TO's and 4 rebs.....
had a few bad D possessions in probably the most minutes (35) he's played since HS. but he showed he can be a
rotation guy
Nice game overall by Phil, he almost looked like a real player.. and scored. Still don't have a big who can box out and get
a rebound.... on top of Brimah, who was stinking up the joint, thinking that just because he gets the ball passed to him low
on the box he has to shoot. Even if the shot is terrible and it's a force.... PASS the rock out son if nothing is THERE !
Facey and Lubin ??? who knows what they are or will become......
Daniel was Daniel... he's gonna get even better, especially giving a solid effort overall running on fumes.....still
the only rebounder and best playmaker coming back.
Which leads me to Omar...what exactly is his skill set ?????????????? He can't dribble or pass a lick, can't
rebound...can't play D and KO had to use a walk-on because he is so limited.... yeah he hit a 3 pointer...... but so what
.. .so can hundreds of other D-1 and D-2 players....he also missed a wide open shot right after that....He's got to be one of
the worst wings ( and undersized what is he 6-4.5 ") we seen here in 25 years.... I'd take Willie McCloud, Lyman Depriest
or a host of other guys that played tough D and at least rebounded. If his skill set is supposed to be as a shooter, KO's got
to find one this summer. Career 37 % FG's and 30% on 3's with no other tangible skill ain't gonna cut it if this team wants
to get better...
Box score
This post was edited on 3/19 9:23 AM by the Blades
Ollie made it sound like there may be some players who won't return.
"Whoever's coming back, they're gonna understand that we have a mission in mind," he said. "We're gonna take the guys that
want to be here, that are gonna fulfill that mission going forward." Asked to clarify if any players are thinking about transferring,
Ollie responded: "I have no idea. I'm gonna have exit meetings next week, my door is gonna be wide-open. They can tell me
their concerns, if they want to be here or not. If they want to transfer, I can't stop them ... Hopefully everybody comes back.
But, if not, we'll keep moving on as a program."
"Whoever's coming back, they're gonna understand that we have a mission in mind," he said. "We're gonna take the guys that
want to be here, that are gonna fulfill that mission going forward." Asked to clarify if any players are thinking about transferring,
Ollie responded: "I have no idea. I'm gonna have exit meetings next week, my door is gonna be wide-open. They can tell me
their concerns, if they want to be here or not. If they want to transfer, I can't stop them ... Hopefully everybody comes back.
But, if not, we'll keep moving on as a program."
Candidates to leave might be Lubin, Calhoun and Nolan. After a season like this there should be some roster turnover.
There was a very uneven effort in the game last night between first and second halves. Ollie looked very angry late in the game when Samuel allowed a guy to penetrate the zone for an easy layup, making Ollie look like an idiot for switching to zone. You can't make your coach look like a jerk on national TV in a postseason game. Yet stuff like that happened a lot last night. UConn played very weak defense for most of the game, and it wasn't just Samuel. Brimah was MIA most of the game last night.
There was a very uneven effort in the game last night between first and second halves. Ollie looked very angry late in the game when Samuel allowed a guy to penetrate the zone for an easy layup, making Ollie look like an idiot for switching to zone. You can't make your coach look like a jerk on national TV in a postseason game. Yet stuff like that happened a lot last night. UConn played very weak defense for most of the game, and it wasn't just Samuel. Brimah was MIA most of the game last night.
I hate to speculate on transfers but Calhoun and Nolan only have 1 year of eligibility left. They'd have to sit out a year and then have 1 year left to play. I doubt that happens.
Cassell, Lubin, Samuels are the three I could see leaving.
Cassell is a bit player with no real skill if you ask me. He is the guy that can spell the 2nd stringer from time to time.
Lubin showed he has something at the end of the season, I hope he stays.
Samuels is a great kid and works hard but cant cut it at D1 if you ask me. He is a 3rd stringer like Cassell. He literally cant not be trusted on either end of the floor. Maybe as a Sr. he can contribute but only because of lack of other talent does he get time here.
As for Calhoun and Nolan, they both won titles and can take that with them for the rest of their lives. I dont see them leaving unless they can some how get a waiver. Neither has skills that can help a D1 team if you ask me. Calhoun had so much promise and Nolan is just terrible.
I don't know, it doesn't look like we are getting anymore legit help next year in big men so I think we are screwed next year unless Adams and Enoch are pros right off the bat which is pretty much impossible. Adams has a shot 1st year but will need Hamilton and Purvis.
I WOULD LIKE to think that Hamilton, Facey, Brimah, and Purvis can all make strides but looking at this year it can not be concluded that Ollie and staff have the ability to make kids better year over year.
Right now I love Ollie but he took a major step back this year and I do question how good he was during the title run and how much was the awesome play of Bazz. I still have faith in him, he has a rough year personally so I am hoping that was the issue and he gets back to being the savior we all thought he was.
Cassell is a bit player with no real skill if you ask me. He is the guy that can spell the 2nd stringer from time to time.
Lubin showed he has something at the end of the season, I hope he stays.
Samuels is a great kid and works hard but cant cut it at D1 if you ask me. He is a 3rd stringer like Cassell. He literally cant not be trusted on either end of the floor. Maybe as a Sr. he can contribute but only because of lack of other talent does he get time here.
As for Calhoun and Nolan, they both won titles and can take that with them for the rest of their lives. I dont see them leaving unless they can some how get a waiver. Neither has skills that can help a D1 team if you ask me. Calhoun had so much promise and Nolan is just terrible.
I don't know, it doesn't look like we are getting anymore legit help next year in big men so I think we are screwed next year unless Adams and Enoch are pros right off the bat which is pretty much impossible. Adams has a shot 1st year but will need Hamilton and Purvis.
I WOULD LIKE to think that Hamilton, Facey, Brimah, and Purvis can all make strides but looking at this year it can not be concluded that Ollie and staff have the ability to make kids better year over year.
Right now I love Ollie but he took a major step back this year and I do question how good he was during the title run and how much was the awesome play of Bazz. I still have faith in him, he has a rough year personally so I am hoping that was the issue and he gets back to being the savior we all thought he was.
You guys are reading Ollie's comments as saying he would be receptive to transfers, what he didn't say publicly was whether he would encourage them. Calhoun was known to tell guys to leave. That is the point of an exit interview. If Ollie tells Nolan and Calhoun and Lubin that they suck, do you really think they will want to stay? You guys badly miss the point. Exit interviews are supposed to be honest, 2 way assessments of players. In the past Jim Calhoun told certain guys who sucked that they suck, and they then left the program. Does anyone remember that point guard from Chicago who could not play a lick? or Curtis Kelly? I think Ollie needs to redo the roster. Some recruiting mistakes were made, and a housecleaning is in order. There are only 3-4 guys on this roster who are contributors.
I have to ask - if these guys leave, who is left to play? They had 8 legit (depending on your point of view) scholarship players suit up last night who could return. They have two incoming recruits. As it stands, they're going to be shorthanded, and bringing in low-tier recruits to fill out the roster is only going to cause the same problem somewhere down the road. Hopefully there's a better plan in place than what I've seen to date if UConn is going to be showing people the door.
There is plenty of high tier and JUCO and transfer talent out there. It's up to the coaches to make those decisions but there is precedent in this program of showing players the door and replacing them. PLENTY of precedent.
UConn has to start recruiting better, that is the solution to the problem.
This post was edited on 3/19 3:38 PM by KhalidShockedTheWorld
UConn has to start recruiting better, that is the solution to the problem.
This post was edited on 3/19 3:38 PM by KhalidShockedTheWorld
I recall Calhoun doing that in the past, but that was probably done at a time when UConn was in a position to take advantage of the scholarships that were freed up. I'm not certain that's the current situation. Tolksdorf left last year, and wasn't replaced. I'm guessing UConn could have used him this year. I just hope if it happens the scholarships aren't given to marginal players who will clog the bench for the next four years.
Ironically what this UConn team could have used is someone like Tolksdorf who could shoot the 3 but with better athletic ability (like Giffey). They need to go out and get such a player. When the halfcourt offense breaks down and you have guys like that they can bail you out by making shots or serving as decoys to open things up for others. When you have nobody who can shoot the ball consistently there is a lot of dribbling and bad shots late in the shot clock, especially when there is nobody inside who is a threat to do anything. As this season went along these problems became more and more noticeable to me and it was because teams were defending UConn according to what their weaknesses are. You can fix that by getting a 3 point shooter and by getting someone inside who can score. Those two things have to happen. Adams and Enoch will help but UConn needs more than that.
I cannot see Ollie suggesting players leave because talent wise they aren't up to standard unless the kid can't cope with less playing time and leaving is something they want. For that to happen you have to have better players to add to the team who will take their time. Right now potential commitments are not apparent but there is always a possibility that there are kids ready to commit that we don't know about. But as long as kids have good attitudes and are working hard I think Ollie wants them.
On the other hand if attitude, behavior, and commitment to the program are a problem then changes will be coming.
I look back to the suspensions before the early season tournament in November which may have indicated a bigger problem than what we thought at the time. In fact they may have contributed to the early season losses that killed the year. If so then Calhoun and Lubin may be on the hot seat.
On the other hand if attitude, behavior, and commitment to the program are a problem then changes will be coming.
I look back to the suspensions before the early season tournament in November which may have indicated a bigger problem than what we thought at the time. In fact they may have contributed to the early season losses that killed the year. If so then Calhoun and Lubin may be on the hot seat.
At various points during the season Ollie made cryptic comments about commitment to the program. It isn't really clear who or what he was referring to. Usually when cryptic comments like this are made, they are made for someone in particular's ears. Omar Calhoun seemed to be in and out of the Ollie doghouse at various points in the season and there was speculation that he was the target of some barbs, but as was mentioned in the prior post, we really don't know the extent of these issues off the court. All that we know is what we saw on the Court, and what we saw on the Court sucked at various times especially in the first half last night. All I can go by is what I saw on the court and if something off the court impacted on that, the coaches need to do something to fix that.
A few years ago Jonathan Mandeldove was basically told to go home his senior year. I was surprised it took that long as the guy was probably even less than Nolan as a player. I think Mandeldove lacked commitment to the program and to taking care of what he had to do. There have been guys like this who were told to leave. We have to trust that the coaches will make these hard decisions and will do what is best for UConn and for us as the community of fans and supporters of the team.
A few years ago Jonathan Mandeldove was basically told to go home his senior year. I was surprised it took that long as the guy was probably even less than Nolan as a player. I think Mandeldove lacked commitment to the program and to taking care of what he had to do. There have been guys like this who were told to leave. We have to trust that the coaches will make these hard decisions and will do what is best for UConn and for us as the community of fans and supporters of the team.
Good discussion about exit meetings ...where guys stand with the program etc. I don't want to speculate but there were
some early season issues (Puerto Rico) that were brought up....I think it was mentioned about a few guys and that the
most important ability is availability. Guys milking their injuries early season ??? So they know who they are and maybe
a SR can even get a waiver to get closer to home if he doesn't like his role.......no way a walk-on should be playing unless
the coach can't trust you when the other guys he trusted with a short bench are playing around 35 minutes or so each.
That being said here's another read:
Brian Koonz: Expect UConn to change -- and not just losing Boatright
But as was brought up above about Darius Smith and Curtis Kelley, etc. this transfer thing is a double edge sword not
only because of depth and stating all over but because of 3 letters we all know to much about...... called the APR.
This post was edited on 3/19 6:38 PM by the Blades
some early season issues (Puerto Rico) that were brought up....I think it was mentioned about a few guys and that the
most important ability is availability. Guys milking their injuries early season ??? So they know who they are and maybe
a SR can even get a waiver to get closer to home if he doesn't like his role.......no way a walk-on should be playing unless
the coach can't trust you when the other guys he trusted with a short bench are playing around 35 minutes or so each.
That being said here's another read:
Brian Koonz: Expect UConn to change -- and not just losing Boatright
But as was brought up above about Darius Smith and Curtis Kelley, etc. this transfer thing is a double edge sword not
only because of depth and stating all over but because of 3 letters we all know to much about...... called the APR.
This post was edited on 3/19 6:38 PM by the Blades
If I recall correctly UConn had perfect APR last year so they can take an APR hit if necessary. It's calculated on a rolling basis and if you rack up a perfect score that means you can suck for a year or maybe two. So if a guy is a bad apple basketball wise a bad APR should not scare you from running him off.
Besides that group that included Darius Smith and Curtis Kelly etc. were all horrible students and we aren't supposed to be recruiting those kinds of students any more.
Besides that group that included Darius Smith and Curtis Kelly etc. were all horrible students and we aren't supposed to be recruiting those kinds of students any more.
By the way that article mentions Brimah's 0 point 0 rebound performance last night. He also had 0 fouls. He was a complete ZERO. Funny but in the beginning of the year Brimah was going #17 on some Mock Drafts for 2015 and 2016. He is longer on the board. Brimah did not play well in any big games against good teams. To me if you are a starting center on a D-1 team you can't have a triple 0 in a postseason game. You maybe shouldn't be starting. The problem is there is nobody else to start because all the other 4-5 players are worse.
I agree and actually I think it's 2 years in a row of perfect scores and I'm sure Lenehan and that other walk-on helped this year..
but I'm sure Uconn takes that into consideration now more than Jimmy did back in the day when he seemed to play musical chairs with transfers and guys at the end of the bench.
but I'm sure Uconn takes that into consideration now more than Jimmy did back in the day when he seemed to play musical chairs with transfers and guys at the end of the bench.
What a difference a season makes. At the beginning of the season KO was preaching together-ness and team. At the end of the season he seems to be expecting transfers. Sort of surprising. This year was incredibly bad. As bad as it gets. I actually think we had a breakdown in leadership. KO, Boat, Brimah, etc...
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