UMKC vs. Uconn

[the Blades]

5pm....(SNY/ESPN3) vs. U. of Missouri–Kansas City (Western Athletic Conf)...0-2 on the year, got a beatdown on the road vs final 4 team, Loyola-Chicago, then had a tighter game at Iowa (L, 63-77 ), on the other side of the 2K Classic. UMKC has started a bigger/ more traditional front line so far this year....Preview

 

[the Blades]

Game day read from the Courant:
“I saw him at the Peach Jam, I think,” Hurley said, “and I remember asking my assistant, it was David Cox at the time, ‘Hey, who’s that guy?’ And he said, ‘Hey, coach, don’t watch him.......[Cox] thought he was a five-star guy. We were reeling in mostly three- and four-star guys. We were getting our share of the top-100s, but he was thought to be out of our reach."

UConn men: Alterique Gilbert becoming the player Dan Hurley, Huskies fans have been waiting for

 

[the Blades]

UConn men's basketball vs. UMKC: time, how to watch, broadcasters, preview

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

The D looks relentless early in this game. Good ball pressure by Gilbert

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

Yakwe looks like he knows how to O rebound

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

Tarin Smith was a major addition to this team. He has a beautiful jump shot and he also looks like he defends like hell. 15 points in the first half and may have been the best player on the Court.

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

Yakwe is bringing back memories of Chuck Okwandu and Brimah with rapidity of his foul trouble. 4 fouls amassed in not many minutes. Gets his money’s worth, always gotta have a guy like this on a deep team.

 

[CaNOLEE]

Is UConn men’s basketball fun again?

 

[CaNOLEE]

we didnt score 90 points in two weeks last year, let alone one game.

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

They need to rebound better but they are fun again. Having Vital as your horse on the boards, while shooting 2-13 and hounding the UKMC guards, is not what you want. Hopefully when Whaley is back and Diarra is back they will help on the boards. I think Yakwe will be a help too if he can stay on the Court.

However tonight Vital's 10 boards were more than twice as many as any other UConn player.

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

Hurley in presser: "our interior defense on post ups was soft".

On a positive note, 12-27 on 3s with not much help from Vital, who was more focused on the boards.

 

[the Blades]

CV is a creation of KO letting guys do whatever they want to do on offense. He has no clue what a good shot or bad shot is, or an out of control drive for that matter. 2-13 FG's, 1-8 on 3's and 5 TO's ain't gonna cut it. He needs to slow down.....stop..... and learn to take what the D gives him. Especially after good ball movement. It just makes the game so much easier when you have the other team running around on D, instead of forcing one on one crap. They would have won by more than 40 if CV just rebounded the ball and played D. I hope this doesn't become a broken record, but he's driving Hurley nuts on the bench & I almost feel like DH has gotta break him down like a wild stallion. Hopefully this problem child who thought he was NBA material, SMH, will start to get it and this team could jump leaps overall on offense.

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

You expect smarter offensive play from a guy who is now a junior, but the 10 boards and hound dog defense cannot be overlooked. CV will be an important player against the SU zone, but he has to be better with his shot selections. The coaches will go over the film with him, show him the shots, tell him they are not the shots he needs to take, and tell him what he needs to do on offense. They need to coach his ass up.

 

[the Blades]

Why would you expect smarter ? CV was never taught different. He's starting off at the Omar level right now as a 3pt shooter (2-12 on 3's...17% ) so I don't expect much ( especially since he was no better than Jalen on 3's last year) But fortunately as you said his D and rebounding are light years ahead of what Omar could bring, so he's a useful player. He needs to be the teams undersized glue guy, but will he accept that role ?

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

CV was never taught different

Hurley is being paid a lot of money to teach him differently. I say coach his ass up, and let's see what the results are. Rome was not built in a day. Hopefully by the end of the year he will be turned into something special. The kid may not be as good as the think he is, but he is certainly not devoid of talent, or heart.

 

[the Blades]

Hurley is being paid a lot of money to teach him differently. I say coach his ass up, and let's see what the results are. Rome was not built in a day. Hopefully by the end of the year he will be turned into something special. The kid may not be as good as the think he is, but he is certainly not devoid of talent, or heart.

That's what I'm talkin' about. It's fun to watch Hurley live at Gampel. After one bonehead TO by CV , DH had a sub right by his side in secs. to yank CV out. But when CV hustled back to break up a lay-up (that he would of caused from the TO), Hurley turned to the sub & had him sit back down. So it's definitely a work in progress. P.S..... Have to love that CV actually shared the ball on the fast break....last year it was like pulling teeth for him to give up the rock on a 2-1 or 3-2.

 

[the Blades]

Uconn 94- UMKC 66 - Box Score

 

[Calhoun_for_President]

Vital has value as a defender and will be a good rotation player once he realizes he can't shoot.
He should never be taking 8 threes in a game.

 

[the Blades]

Shout out to Storrs South:

 

[the Blades]

Recap from the Courant with quotes from the former Pitino asst. @ Louisville and UMKC HC:
Kareem Richardson said, ”first, foremost, they defend their tails off and make everything physical, make everything tough, every pass, every catch, just everything physical.”......... “Their defense was tremendous, coach Hurley obviously takes a lot of pride in that. They even pressure a little better, a little more tenacious, than other [UConn] teams. …We were prepared; they smacked us in the mouth.”

Five takeaways from the blowout win over UMKC

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

I was very impressed with the defense UConn played in this game as well. It was intense and consistent. The pressure on the ball was very good. If you noticed UKMC had a little jackrabbit playing the point guard and he had good pressure put on him by Gilbert. Gilbert is going to pester a lot of opposing point guards. UConn can also spell Gilbert and put Vital on the opposition point guard and if it’s a bigger guard they can use Smith, who also looked good on D.

Forcing TOs and taking better care of the ball can be expected with a deep guard rotation, but they have to figure out a way to improve the rebounding. I think that Whaley and Yakwe, when healthy, will be a big help. You don’t want Vital to have to pull down 10 rebounds just to avoid losing the boards to a team like UKMC. It’s not what you want. Ideally we should see one of Whaley or Yakwe yanking down 10 boards in like 20 minutes of action so as to relieve this pressure. The bigs have to clean some glass.

 

[CaNOLEE]

How deep are we going to be with Wilson and Diarra in the mix? Hopefully that also remedies some of the rebounding issue.

A win on national tv over Syracuse with Vitale pumping Hurley, should help with recruiting.

 

[the Blades]

I'd have to expect more from Yakwe too, regarding REB's, blocks & movement on D. I saw him in a walking boot for a couple of months since back in August at the Uconn soccer games and he's only been practicing for about 10 days. Here's a little more from Borges with more quotes with what we touched on:

“He’s (Yakwe) just trying to catch up,” said Hurley. “He’s behind in everything, just trying to catch up to what’s happening on the court. He’s obviously thinking a lot. But, when he gets healthy and finds a rhythm and catches up to where the game is, in terms of how much time he’s missed and the amount of rust, I think he is gonna be a key guy for us, because of our defensive style. And the fact I like to play so many guys.”

“Christian’s gotta be more selective with his shot. But, as a coach, going into a game is like going into battle. And I like to go into battle with tough guys and guys that compete real hard. Obviously, 2-for-13, five turnovers, didn’t look real pretty at times. But he competed his butt off.”

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

Tarin Smith looks like a very mature, disciplined and smart player and talented as well. Since he is a grad transfer we shouldn’t be surprised by the first 3, I am a bit surprised by his talent. He can shoot, and defend, and seems to have a strong body unlike that kid from Fordham last year who had a very awkward looking game and shot.

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

How deep are we going to be with Wilson and Diarra in the mix? Hopefully that also remedies some of the rebounding issue.

I don't know if they will help much on the boards but they both should be rotational players and the team will be VERY deep with them in the mix. Lots of bodies, and most of them are pretty good athletes.

After watching Jalen, Tarin and Alterique stroke smooth looking 3s against UKMC, and with Polley also showing a nice form, I think the 3 point shooting will be a lot better. It can't be much worse - there is nowhere to go but up from last year.