UConn-Tampa Game Assessment

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

UConn won the game 88-72 and from my standpoint although it was a win, it was a very rough around the edges performance. I suppose I should be happy that I won a free order of chicken wings at Buffalo Wild Wings with my ticket stub because UConn scored more than 82, but here are some random thoughts:

- Shonn Miller was the best player on the floor and he is the only player on the UConn team who shows the ability to finish and score through contact. He is very strong, great on the boards and looks to me like a very souped up version of Johnnie Selvie.

- Adams and Enoch both played like freshmen. Adams is clearly more ready but is still in high school with his passes. Was throwing a lot of lazy passes and then finally one got picked and taken length of court for a layup which was overdue to happen. Enoch was a disappointment. A big body but he isn't ready. He was like Rak Lubin last year, doesn't really know how to play or use his body. Was just throwing his body around without purpose and picking up fouls.

-Sterling Gibbs to me doesn't really look like a natural point guard. Adams has more PG instincts but needs to clean up his passing and start adding zip to it. Gibbs looks more like a shooting guard.

- Omar Calhoun was the best of the likely bench players. I thought he played well and hustled.

- Hamilton and Brimah were both kind of disappointing. Brimah had some chances for rebounds and finishes and muffed them. Hamilton also did not finish well and looks like both need to get stronger.

- Purvis played solidly. He had a few plays where he was wide open and nobody got him the ball. On one Adams saw him open in the corner but Adams' pass went out of bounds.

-Facey pulled down a few impressive boards but had some bad body language after missing an alley oop he should have finished but couldn't. After the play he kind of sulked and didn't run up court and there was like this 5 second blip where he was checked out of play before gathering himself and running back on defense.

- Nolan played okay backup minutes. I actually thought he looked better than Brimah did. He was more active.

- Cassell might be more of a PG than Gibbs but again doesn't look like he is on the UConn level with his athleticism

Overall a C or C- performance today

 

[northdakotahusky]

I only listened on the radio. Scoring seemed to come from many places. I like that.

 

[CaNOLEE]

Best player and Johnny selvie in the same sentence is terrifying

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

I said "a very souped up Johnnie Selvie"- you know, like a Turbo, fuel injected Johnnie Selvie

 

[CaNOLEE]

Lol, I know. If Johnny Selvie had an assist in his career it's because a ball caremed off his hands to a teammate for a layup. Seriously, The only time he ever passed anything, it was a substance illegal in 47 states.

 

[northdakotahusky]

I guess we shot 9 for 20 from 3. That's positive.

 

[the Blades]

Good review KSTW, I saw most of the same stuff. Right now I think they are a little overrated until guys figure out their roles. Noticed the first half KO subbed entire units of 5 guys but then went more conventional in the 2nd. Could be just getting the opening game jitters out, but not a particular high IQ bunch in the nifty passing/ create offense for each other phase. More like it's a " lets share "and take turns taking shots group... though there were a few alley-oop passes. Purvis is Purvis, good D and a head down driver or 3pt spot up guy, but with no true passing skills. Adams is going to need to be the true PG on this team and probably has the best playmaking ability of the guys in the backcourt, though like you and KO said ( in game notes) he needs to clean things up:

Ollie's take: "Jalen played exceptionally well and I think he changed the whole tempo of the game pushing the ball up the court and that's kind of how fast we want to play. (Jalen's) that push guard that we want and we've been missing. Now it's just him getting it under control. Having five turnovers that just freshman turnovers. He got a couple charges … but I love the pace that he's playing at."

Disappointed that Brimah still looks like a fish out of water going after rebounds. Like you said Nolan was OK, had his patented spin move down low followed by a miss, but did go up strong later and throw one down and I think was 2-2 on FT's which didn't happen much all night for the rest. Gibbs looks more a stocky type 2 guard, but can handle the ball, like Cassell, but neither are gonna be the elite pressure type guards we've seen since Kemba...... FT shooting was terrible most of the game waffling around the 40-50% level, and finishing at 13-24.

Miller is a plus player and a man down low with his strength, D and rebounding. D-Ham still can work the boards but was kind of sloppy on O at times. Omar looked a little leaner ( maybe just healthier) which seemed to help him on D and he did hit some shots, so he could be more useful if that continues. But overall played a true 11 deep and there is plenty to work on across the board. It could continue if Enoch can improve as most guys are not "5 tool players " to use a baseball analogy... but have some strengths and weaknesses. The thing I don't see is leadership and followership situation on this team or anyone who is a dual threat ( take the right shot or has the ability to pass when it's not there). Uconn lost alot in late games situations last year because of just that problem, so we'll have to see how that works out. There may be 1 or 2 guys that could be it and and another 1 or 2.... that I hope they don't think they are.

As KO said right now there is no alpha dog: "You can have a lot of guys contribute," he said, "but you have to have a guy that can be that alpha dog, too. That team we had [two years ago], we had options, but Shabazz [Napier] was that guy when everything got in disarray and tough, he was that guy to bring them together. That's what I'm searching for right now, and I think I'm going to find it. Daniel didn't have the game he's supposed to have, but it was just the first game."

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

There are several guys who are leadership candidates- Adams once he gets more experience, Hamilton, and Miller being the primary ones in my mind. It's nice that a lot of guys contributed but an Alpha Dog has to emerge.

I would really like to see a lot more next game from Brimah, Hamilton and Enoch. Adams' main problem is that his passes lack the necessary zip now that he is playing with men and not boys. This is something that is fixable. I did like the way Adams pushed the ball and he looks like a better PG candidate than Gibbs to me. Now that I see Gibbs I actually think that he, and not Purvis, might be a better candidate for 6th man based on what I saw off of this one game. Except that Omar actually was more of a contributor in this game and he might be the best 6th man candidate on the team.

Team basketball IQ- I agree with Blades that it needs to get better. This is a more experienced team than last year and they should play like it.

Blades, I also noticed that Ollie started the game by implementing the revolutionary, innovative Calipari "platoon" system that we saw used much of last year with the very deep team he had at Kentucky. I think when you have a real deep team you need to experiment with unit substitutions, block substitutions, and individual substitutions in the exhibition games and I like KO's experimentation in this regard. Did you notice that when the second unit came in early in the game, the defense immediately improved? This is what bothered me a little bit- the starters should be a lot better defensively than they were. I look at the final defensive stats and they look acceptable, but I saw some very poor defense at the beginning of the game in particular. As the game went on UConn's size and athleticism wore a little on Tampa but other than that I don't believe any really great defense was played in this game. Also, it should be noted that Tampa packed in their defense and invited UConn to shoot 3s, so don't get too excited about 9-20. That is what should happen when a smaller team dares you to shoot jumpers to beat them.

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

Hey Blades make sure you save your ticket stub as its good for a free order of your choice flavor of chicken wings at Buffalo Wild Wings for one week. I gave my stub to one of the girls in the office who likes BWW wings. I figure with my ticket for New Haven next Saturday there is another chance for 82 points and free wings at BWW.

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

Fran Fraschilla watched the game yesterday and had a bunch of posts on his twitter about the game:

https://twitter.com/franfraschilla?ref_src=twsrc^tfw

 

[the Blades]

No it's not just you Fran:

Fran Fraschilla ‏@franfraschilla 22h22 hours ago
"UConn has 36-30 1st half lead over Tampa but lot of good pieces. It's just me but Jalen Adams future as team's PG may be sooner than later. Seton Hall transfer Sterling Gibbs will obviously help Kevin Ollie's team. Big time shooter. Just like to see him not dribble as much. You'll see a lot of Adams/Gibbs/Hamilton as a trio this year for UConn. Purvis adds open court scoring & slashing in half court."

 

[the Blades]

 

[northdakotahusky]

Khalid, I was kinda curious about your thoughts on the 3 point shooting. I remember last year you were pretty adamant that our lack of 3 pt shooting was sinking our offense. At least I think that was one of your points. 9 for 20 is pretty darn good. Gibbs, Purvis and Adams all seemed confident. Calhoun hit a few as well, but I'm not super optimistic that will continue.

 

[northdakotahusky]

I'll be honest, I'm really optimistic about this team. Brimah was sort of a dud in the Tampa game and we need him for sure. Going into the season I think we all suspected/hoped that Gibbs, Hamilton, Purvis and Adams would be a collection of speed, shooting and skill that would make us tough to beat. I think I saw exactly that in that game. The ball movement was really good for this point in the season. We also seemed very quick to the ball on rebounds. I really like what I saw offensively. And to be honest, I didn't think that Tampa team was all that bad. I don't know what that freshman guard is doing in DII. He had some talent.

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

I agree that the Tampa team looked pretty good, but we can't forget they were picked by coaches to finish 6th in the Sunshine State Conference, not exactly a ringing endorsement of their roster talent. Regarding 3 point shooting as I said that should have happened based on the way Tampa defended UConn and their inferior size. I would expect 3 point shooting to be better than last year because of the acquisition of Gibbs and more experience for the others as well as Calhoun's better health.

New Haven is up next, this will be a chance for the team to show some improvement. Brimah was not effective rebounding the basketball against Tampa and while the presence of Miller and Hamilton somewhat takes pressure off of him, you can't have your starting center be a zero on the boards. He has to be better.