you have to do all the little things(hit your FTs, take care of the ball, guard, rebound) to win without your lottery pic. We obviously didn’t. very disappointing. With Bouk, we could be special. Without him, we are an NIT team.
True story...They now have no big shot maker or shot creator with him out. Tyler had a hot hand in those 2 games but he's a catch and shoot guy. I'm not convinced the team is better with RJ running the team even though he had a good 1st half hitting 3's vs. St. John's. He isn't great creating off the dribble because he's not that fast, his lefty dribble gets shut down and his 6-16 FG's in the game ain't doing anybody any favors, along with blown FT's
(again).
The Courant had an article that covered alot of what I've' been thinking about with Gaf. I think DH handing his starting job to RJ has been a net negative to Gaf and maybe effected his confidence. Because he did a great job running the team last year when DH replaced Al with him. And I'll tell you another thing, Gaf ( and CV ) didn't miss clutch FT's last year like RJ and Tyrese are. It's all the difference in the world between winning and losing.
But since no one else can really create DH is convinced RJ is the answer even though his FT's killed the team (twice) and his D was really bad vs. Posh/ St. John's, especially in the 2nd half when they made their run. DH played him way to many minutes, plus he's not a great athlete anyway. I was thinking an offense to defense sub with Gaf could of helped. But Hurley is stuck on RJ now. Even though it's something he created.... probably not for the better..
He's some of the excerpts.
“We can’t afford for [Gaffney] to not play better,” Hurley said. “He’s a core guy, first-recruiting-class guy, and now has had back-to-back games where he’s played less than 12 minutes. Especially with James out, or even without James out, we need the big second-year bump from him to make this work. Now we’re desperate to get improved second-year play, but he’s got to get out there and do it. He’s got to believe in himself. He’s got to make plays. We’ve got to get more production out of him.”........
" Gaffney, a 6-foot-3 guard, helped turn last season around when he took over at point guard. Though his scoring was modest, he ran the team on the floor with a lot of poise. This season, though he is bigger and stronger, Gaffney has struggled to find his voice. He’s fallen from the starting lineup, averaging 20.3 minutes, 5.4 points with 14 assists and 12 turnovers. There are flashes; his one big move to the basket created a 3-point play vs. St. John’s, but he was in foul trouble and thus limited when UConn needed him to help cover the opponents four-guard lineup. ......It sounds like rebuilding Gaffney’s confidence should be a priority. "