UConn-Tulsa

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

It looked to me like UConn was going with a 4 guard offense with Facey on the bench most of the game tonight. The results looked pretty good, the ball movement seemed very good and the spacing looked good. I wonder if this was just the matchup tonight or whether this may be a deployment we will see regularly.

It all looked pretty good tonight.

 

[northdakotahusky]

Small crowd. Team looked good tonight. Enthusiastic even.

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

Did you see the enthusiasm and aggression with which Danny Guest took that last one to the hole? He looked like an unstoppable freight train taking the ball to the hole and scoring. Wow!

 

[northdakotahusky]

I saw it...who is that? A walk on?

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

Danny Guest is a walk on.

If UConn plays this way, the NCAA bid via winning of the AAC tournament is very possible. But now they have to go to SMU and sustain it.

 

[northdakotahusky]

They definitely looked like they enjoyed themselves tonight. Maybe our huskies aren't dead yet.

 

[the Blades]

Originally posted by northdakotahusky:
I saw it...who is that? A walk on?

Guest actually played real minutes a few years back at:

Dan Guest - George Washington basketball

 

[the Blades]

Loved this stat: only 7 TO's...... another thing I loved is when Uconn got a little sloppy in the first half and
was trying to give the lead back..... Hamilton decided to go end to end and throw up a BS 18 foot miss with
team mates on the wings and throw more fuel on the fire.....

....KO grabbed him outside the huddle and read him the riot act, plus he pulled him out of the game on the spot...
I was at the game and don't know if you could see it on TV but KO showed he's not gonna put up with BS forced
shots right there.....also shout out to T- Sam who wasn't a big scorer but did alot of little things 7 rebs, 3 asst only
1 TO, 2-2 FT and was a glue guy....while he also reeled the team in after breaking pressure and worked the offense....

this team can be a whole lot better if they cut down on bad shots and TO's......it was a late arriving crowd which
was probably slowed down by the weather and parking issues but I'll take the 11,506 all things considered....
Now at SMU they need to play flawless but tonight was a step in the right direction...

This post was edited on 2/12 10:33 PM by the Blades

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

The team is definitely better when Samuel is out there as an extra ballhandler. But I think KO was using 4 guards a majority of this game. In the second half it was Samuel, Boat, Purvis, Hamilton/Calhoun and Brimah/Nolan for a majority of time. Facey only had 10 minutes. If the guards can rebound the ball, which they did (UConn won boards 39-30) there is no reason to have Facey out there. The additional ballhandling and ball movement last night were noticeable. As Blades mentioned only 7 (actually 6 TOs) which I think was a season low. However there were only 8 assisted baskets which surprised me as the ball movement looked good. They really need to get around 14-15 assists a game.

Purvis should also be commended. His shot wasn't working early and he then aggressively drove to the hole. A few of his drives were spectacular. And he ended up shooting a respectable 3 of 7 on 3s. It would have been nice to get a little more from Calhoun but his one bucket was a very nice drive. For the most part nobody tried to do too much and they played within themselves.

Defense was great - Tulsa, although admittedly a poor shooting team, was held to 31.5%.

 

[the Blades]

Originally posted by KhalidShockedTheWorld:
As Blades mentioned only 7 (actually 6 TOs) which I think was a season low. However there were only 8 assisted baskets which surprised me as the ball movement looked good. They really need to get around 14-15 assists a game.

One thing KSTW, don't were you got the ASST to TO numbers, the official box score showed 15 asst to 7 TO's
lead by Boat with 8 assists:

Box Score

And yes Calhoun's shooting struggles continue only 1-6 on FG's and now 21.4% on FG's in the last 6 games,
I think he needs to just play hard and shoot less.
This post was edited on 2/13 8:45 AM by the Blades

 

[anon_65nwv98c2idwc]

If the Oz man reads this thread:

WTF is going on with the Rock? Relegated to coming in with the walk-ons last night, and sees almost no court time.

Very complete effort last night on both ends. That was more of what I expected to see from this team coming into this year. Sucks it took 20+ games to find it.

 

[Silk31]

Great game, and it was nice to see us come out with energy for a change. KO finally made a real coaching adjustment by benching Facey for DHam at the 4. This move was long overdue and it really amazed me to find out that Hamilton is leading the conference in rebounding per conference game...that is downright impressive from a wing guy.

KO was hesitant to deploy Hamilton as he did Daniels but it's time to keep rolling with this lineup. We should stay small and make other teams adjust to us.

This game was a must have and now before we get ahead of ourselves we need to prove that we can beat a good team on the road. This Tulsa game will mean absolutely nothing if we regress and suffer a loss at SMU...let's keep the momentum going, that nail isn't in the coffin just yet

 

[northdakotahusky]

So Hamilton is our new 4? Sounds good to me. We don't have much to lose.

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

Whereas Daniels last year was a legit stretch 4, Hamilton is a guard playing 4. It's a 4 guard offense, is what it is. However with Hamilton grabbing 8 plus boards a game, UConn has to roll with it until matchups dictate otherwise.

LST, regarding Lubin only managing to get run with the walk ons, I have to think something is going on with him in practice. Seems like a solid kid but remember Facey was benched and only got 10 minutes last night. Ollie was moving away from the traditional 4s last night. It is basically small ball and we will see if it works at SMU.

 

[Ozzie3178]

LST my man yea Rak is still learning and getting in shape.

 

[anon_65nwv98c2idwc]

Thanks fellas, makes sense with both replies.