Temple Thread
- Thread starter northdakotahusky
- Start date
With Boatright out of the game, there has been no effective penetration and just a lot of meaningless dribbling of the ball around the perimeter which has led to TOs and fast breaks the other way. Samuel doesn't seem to see the Court well when he penetrates, and is looking to score. When Cassell played the point the ball movement looked better, but he has not made a shot since the preseason. No reason to defend Cassell.
Have a small chance at the end. If we lose I'd like to see ko run the end of the game foul situation properly. We didn't reakky do that in our other losses.
We are not a tournament team by any means right now - I don't care if Boat was horrible all 1st half and didn't play at all in the 2nd half. We can't hit 3s and we can't hit FTs. Those two things add up to an abysmal offense and we are leaving ourselves with little room for error from here on out.
With each and every loss we are staring at having to win the AAC Tourney or head to the NIT
With each and every loss we are staring at having to win the AAC Tourney or head to the NIT
Tough loss, but Hamilton looked like a freshman at the end. Tough when you need 2 of 3 FTs to get to another OT and he didn't come close to making any of them.
The offense without Boatright just wasn't good enough. I think with a healthy Boatright UConn would have won the game. The point guard play wasn't any good. 10 assists, 16 TOs, 1-9 on 3s, 8-19 on FTs, those are the main stats that tell you why UConn got the loss.
The offense without Boatright just wasn't good enough. I think with a healthy Boatright UConn would have won the game. The point guard play wasn't any good. 10 assists, 16 TOs, 1-9 on 3s, 8-19 on FTs, those are the main stats that tell you why UConn got the loss.
Another dreadful game by the supporting cast. Lack of good recruiting across the board. Samuels is aweful, Nolan is the worst Jr. playing D1 ball, Lubin cant play, Cassell is WAY OVER MATCHED in D1. Thsi boils down to having a team of bench players trying to play ball with Boat. I will give Purvis a few more games to get 100% into playing mode but if he doesnt blossom we are a Diamond Stone going to Wisc situation away from NIT or worse back to back years.
You cant miss double digit FT's and Hamilton got what he deserved on that three, he wasnt touched. Ball dont lie.
Disgusted with this game, we have not shot of getting into the NCAA unless we win the AAC which I would put $1 on in Vegas.
You cant miss double digit FT's and Hamilton got what he deserved on that three, he wasnt touched. Ball dont lie.
Disgusted with this game, we have not shot of getting into the NCAA unless we win the AAC which I would put $1 on in Vegas.
Saw bits and pieces of the game and have taped it as I do all the games. Initial read obviously is we stink without Boat!
Cassell Jr is not a D1 UCONN ball player and may need all 3 years just to get in shape. Same goes for Rak.
Anyway will watch it a few more times by tomorrow to see.
KSTW I hope you are right... Because we HAVE to win this conference otherwise NIT or CBI. Smh
Cassell Jr is not a D1 UCONN ball player and may need all 3 years just to get in shape. Same goes for Rak.
Anyway will watch it a few more times by tomorrow to see.
KSTW I hope you are right... Because we HAVE to win this conference otherwise NIT or CBI. Smh
Happy fricken' New Year, ya'll !
Just a couple of observations from the Blades.....
Felt bad for Hamilton the way the whole sequence played out after the 3 shot foul, and for those not at the game,
I'll recap because I don't know how much you could see on TV. First it looked like he was gonna shoot right away...
then not... so he went over to the Uconn bench...but the officials were checking the monitor for time, so he walked
away .....Then it really got as weird as I've ever seen for a shooter in that situation.
He ended up at the half court circle completely by himself as both teams huddled by the bench for what seemed like
an eternity. It felt so weird with the crowd buzzing they broke out in a standing ovation for the kid....by that time I swear
the kids pulse must have been at 300 bpm and was shocked the staff didn't get him over to the huddle just to calm him
down and put an arm around him, but more to take the pressure off by discussing the D strategy "after Daniel makes the
shots were gonna do this".... a ploy I recall JC talking about doing with FT shooters at times in his career. It makes the
shooter concentrate on other things beside the pressure of the FT's and with the team....instead of standing by himself
alone on an Island with 13,000 fans staring at him and cheering.....don't know if would have changed the outcome...but
it's the weirdest thing I've seen in over 20 years as a season tix holder.
Secondly as Ozzie said..and to state the obvious..Uconn has no #2 guard to break anything down off the dribble without
Boat...this is gonna continue to be a problem all year. The 2 true PG thing in the backcourt which has been a NC staple of
Uconn just doesn't exist. Hamilton is probably the 2nd best on this team at creating a look/pass off the dribble but he doesn't
understand tempo yet and forces into things at to quick a speed, so the TO's ( 6 yesterday) just keep on coming. Same with
Purvis who has even worse vision and is a bulldozer/ klutz with a worse handle. Beyond them T-Sam wasn't expected to
have that skill set but now must. And Cass Jr has been a dud and struggles on D, just like Omar who gets beat off the
dribble repeatedly, so who's left ?
This team without Boat reminded me of Michigan St. that I watched 2 days ago vs. Maryland. Like Temple yesterday
Maryland was beating their men over and over going to the hoop, while everything Mich St. did was passing it around
on the perimeter hoping that something would open as they lost in OT ( after Tom Izzo twice stole regulation victory from
his own team with bad decisions)
So the bottom line on this is you better stop saving scholarships for walk-ons KO when you had 3 left and need to find
another guard with a breakdown game....for next year to go along with Adams too......and a 3 pt shooter would help while
your at it.
Lastly......you can tell this current Uconn group are front runners without a leader. They're more likely to score the 3
and hit FT's when they don't mean anything ( Central CT 92%) but in a close game they tense up ( less we forget Purvis
was on 1-4 FT's in the clutch yesterday too)..... That's 3 games now, on FT's... the 2 chokes by Boat and now
this game....which is the difference of being 6-5 or 9-2.
As far as winning anything I just don't see it, the 2 PG thing who can create doesn't exist and it's a major flaw. I hope
I'm wrong. Enjoy the Bowl games and your Holiday !!!
This post was edited on 1/1 9:36 AM by the Blades
Just a couple of observations from the Blades.....
Felt bad for Hamilton the way the whole sequence played out after the 3 shot foul, and for those not at the game,
I'll recap because I don't know how much you could see on TV. First it looked like he was gonna shoot right away...
then not... so he went over to the Uconn bench...but the officials were checking the monitor for time, so he walked
away .....Then it really got as weird as I've ever seen for a shooter in that situation.
He ended up at the half court circle completely by himself as both teams huddled by the bench for what seemed like
an eternity. It felt so weird with the crowd buzzing they broke out in a standing ovation for the kid....by that time I swear
the kids pulse must have been at 300 bpm and was shocked the staff didn't get him over to the huddle just to calm him
down and put an arm around him, but more to take the pressure off by discussing the D strategy "after Daniel makes the
shots were gonna do this".... a ploy I recall JC talking about doing with FT shooters at times in his career. It makes the
shooter concentrate on other things beside the pressure of the FT's and with the team....instead of standing by himself
alone on an Island with 13,000 fans staring at him and cheering.....don't know if would have changed the outcome...but
it's the weirdest thing I've seen in over 20 years as a season tix holder.
Secondly as Ozzie said..and to state the obvious..Uconn has no #2 guard to break anything down off the dribble without
Boat...this is gonna continue to be a problem all year. The 2 true PG thing in the backcourt which has been a NC staple of
Uconn just doesn't exist. Hamilton is probably the 2nd best on this team at creating a look/pass off the dribble but he doesn't
understand tempo yet and forces into things at to quick a speed, so the TO's ( 6 yesterday) just keep on coming. Same with
Purvis who has even worse vision and is a bulldozer/ klutz with a worse handle. Beyond them T-Sam wasn't expected to
have that skill set but now must. And Cass Jr has been a dud and struggles on D, just like Omar who gets beat off the
dribble repeatedly, so who's left ?
This team without Boat reminded me of Michigan St. that I watched 2 days ago vs. Maryland. Like Temple yesterday
Maryland was beating their men over and over going to the hoop, while everything Mich St. did was passing it around
on the perimeter hoping that something would open as they lost in OT ( after Tom Izzo twice stole regulation victory from
his own team with bad decisions)
So the bottom line on this is you better stop saving scholarships for walk-ons KO when you had 3 left and need to find
another guard with a breakdown game....for next year to go along with Adams too......and a 3 pt shooter would help while
your at it.
Lastly......you can tell this current Uconn group are front runners without a leader. They're more likely to score the 3
and hit FT's when they don't mean anything ( Central CT 92%) but in a close game they tense up ( less we forget Purvis
was on 1-4 FT's in the clutch yesterday too)..... That's 3 games now, on FT's... the 2 chokes by Boat and now
this game....which is the difference of being 6-5 or 9-2.
As far as winning anything I just don't see it, the 2 PG thing who can create doesn't exist and it's a major flaw. I hope
I'm wrong. Enjoy the Bowl games and your Holiday !!!
This post was edited on 1/1 9:36 AM by the Blades
I totally agree Blades- the point guard play when Boat was not in the game can be described as worse than awful. Also agree that based on skillset, Hamilton is the best candidate to play point guard after Boat, but he is too young and mistake prone and he is also a bit too righthanded.
Not sure if you noticed but after he missed the FTs, Facey went over and hugged Hamilton and patted his shoulder.
This post was edited on 1/1 9:11 AM by KhalidShockedTheWorld
Not sure if you noticed but after he missed the FTs, Facey went over and hugged Hamilton and patted his shoulder.
This post was edited on 1/1 9:11 AM by KhalidShockedTheWorld
Yeah watching Rak in the cream puff games he can't get off the floor....no way he's 6-8....more like 6-6
and vertically challenged because despite whatever muscle he has it's just to much weight with no bounce.
So he plays like 6-3 because of it. When you think of powerful 6-6 to 6-8 player at Uconn guys like Kirk King
Kevin Freeman or Toraino Walker come to mind.... at his current weight he couldn't carry their jock straps !
It's amazing to me that Cassell can be a 1st team JUCO All American and almost a zero contributor. I can think of two other guys who came to UConn as JUCO All Americans, one who did not amount to much and the other a starter and solid player. Monquencio Hartnett and Johnnie Selvie. Hartnett was a good athlete unlike Cassell, but not very high basketball IQ and was turnover prone and was never really much of a contributor. Selvie was a good player for UConn. He was the power forward after Freeman, not as good as Freeman but similarly undersized and similarly tough and a very good rebounder and could score a little.
Cassell has been a huge disappointment. Without question he was the best player for UConn in the 2 exhibition games. Against better competition, his shot has disappeared and he can't play D. I was really expecting a lot more from him. I thought he might even be able to start. He looks to me like a bench player who may be a contributor down the road but lacks the athleticism to get anything on O (and he is not even making shots when wide open) and can't keep his man in front of him.
On the other hand, if we are looking for bright spots I am seeing a lot of improvement in Brimah and Facey. I actually think the starting 5 is pretty good, but the lack of a second point guard is a problem and the lack of 3 point shooting is a problem.
Cassell has been a huge disappointment. Without question he was the best player for UConn in the 2 exhibition games. Against better competition, his shot has disappeared and he can't play D. I was really expecting a lot more from him. I thought he might even be able to start. He looks to me like a bench player who may be a contributor down the road but lacks the athleticism to get anything on O (and he is not even making shots when wide open) and can't keep his man in front of him.
On the other hand, if we are looking for bright spots I am seeing a lot of improvement in Brimah and Facey. I actually think the starting 5 is pretty good, but the lack of a second point guard is a problem and the lack of 3 point shooting is a problem.
I'll add one more JUCO, the infamous Covington "Cupp" Cormier who took the KO challenge and lost:
Cormier Says He'll Transfer"Calhoun said Cormier had the athletic ability to play on the Big East level, but he never made the necessary mental adjustments. "
This post was edited on 1/1 10:56 AM by the Blades
Cormier Says He'll Transfer"Calhoun said Cormier had the athletic ability to play on the Big East level, but he never made the necessary mental adjustments. "
This post was edited on 1/1 10:56 AM by the Blades
Interesting quote from the Uconn sophomore Kevin Ollie from a prophetic 1992 article about him and Cupp, that could
apply to this years Uconn team. KO embraced Uconn adding Cormier and said " Every good team needs 2 point guards,
it's no competition between me and Cupp...me and him have got to run the team"
Ollie Welcomes Cormier's Challenge
apply to this years Uconn team. KO embraced Uconn adding Cormier and said " Every good team needs 2 point guards,
it's no competition between me and Cupp...me and him have got to run the team"
Ollie Welcomes Cormier's Challenge
Similar threads
BB Recruiting 2024 Hoops Transfer Portal Thread
