WATCH: UConn Men's Basketball Postgame Press Conference (Xavier) - 2/13/21
- Thread starter Ian Bethune
- Start date
I loved the question by the reporter who asked Dan about not being able to win games in the 70's. And Dan kind of smirked at the question.
To me it wasn't about being able to play with 2 bigs on offense, they did just fine with Whaley and Sanogo, or Akok or Tyler as any 2 men groups, because they had an OFFENSE TRYING to SCORE the Basketball. I don't know if it's been by design but handing the ball off, playing hot potato, 25 feet from the hoop, wasting their energy and the shot clock....running around in circles.. had been the downfall of this team in the last few games. FINALLY whether it was by design or not guys made a catch and tried to beat their man (even Tyler amazingly) and put pressure on the opponents D. And what that does is get the D guarding them out of position. ( even for offensive rebounds, that Uconn is good at ) That's what every team who plays to win, has done with the ball, against Uconn. Instead of, like Uconn, having a PG playing traffic cop doing nothing but dribbling so far away from the hoop that they can't score or a bunch of guys running around in circles afraid to attack their men or even look for a shot until the shot clock runs out.
The guy who seemed to benefit the most from this is RJ who came off the bench as a scorer and did just that. Even though Gaf, who looked like a scorer and a breakdown guy a few games ago, seems like he is playing tentative now that DH has him starting and running the point. So it makes me wonder has DH been psyching out his own team with his " we can't win games in the 70's" as far as playing offense ? Hopefully this is a eureka moment and they will attack going forward. Or attack, move your defender and dish if nothing is there.
ENOUGH of the guards handing off to your bigs or guys not even looking at the hoop, 25 feet away that accomplishes nothing ! Because IMHO you can't win "if you don't try to score in AT LEAST the 70's" and put way to much pressure on yourself on every possession.
Now lets see what they do vs. Providence and Cooley who realized all you have to do is use soft pressure vs. this Uconn team to waste clock and it will take them completely out of their offense. Because they will just dribble it around and pass it off to one another for another 20 secs on their own..... Hurley mentioned this was happening himself, after the PC loss, so I'm looking forward to the adjustment Dan and ATTACK Basketball going forward.
.
To me it wasn't about being able to play with 2 bigs on offense, they did just fine with Whaley and Sanogo, or Akok or Tyler as any 2 men groups, because they had an OFFENSE TRYING to SCORE the Basketball. I don't know if it's been by design but handing the ball off, playing hot potato, 25 feet from the hoop, wasting their energy and the shot clock....running around in circles.. had been the downfall of this team in the last few games. FINALLY whether it was by design or not guys made a catch and tried to beat their man (even Tyler amazingly) and put pressure on the opponents D. And what that does is get the D guarding them out of position. ( even for offensive rebounds, that Uconn is good at ) That's what every team who plays to win, has done with the ball, against Uconn. Instead of, like Uconn, having a PG playing traffic cop doing nothing but dribbling so far away from the hoop that they can't score or a bunch of guys running around in circles afraid to attack their men or even look for a shot until the shot clock runs out.
The guy who seemed to benefit the most from this is RJ who came off the bench as a scorer and did just that. Even though Gaf, who looked like a scorer and a breakdown guy a few games ago, seems like he is playing tentative now that DH has him starting and running the point. So it makes me wonder has DH been psyching out his own team with his " we can't win games in the 70's" as far as playing offense ? Hopefully this is a eureka moment and they will attack going forward. Or attack, move your defender and dish if nothing is there.
ENOUGH of the guards handing off to your bigs or guys not even looking at the hoop, 25 feet away that accomplishes nothing ! Because IMHO you can't win "if you don't try to score in AT LEAST the 70's" and put way to much pressure on yourself on every possession.
Now lets see what they do vs. Providence and Cooley who realized all you have to do is use soft pressure vs. this Uconn team to waste clock and it will take them completely out of their offense. Because they will just dribble it around and pass it off to one another for another 20 secs on their own..... Hurley mentioned this was happening himself, after the PC loss, so I'm looking forward to the adjustment Dan and ATTACK Basketball going forward.
.
Last edited:
Blades,
Sometimes the opponent does have something to do with how you play. I though Xavier played softer defense than Providence, Seton Hall or St. John's. Was Xavier overconfident? I thought their defense was consistently weak the entire game. There were consistent seams in their defense that looked open to RJ and he was also allowed many open looks by the Xavier D from 3 that the other teams did not give him. Bouknight would have dropped 40 on that team. The return match against PC will be telling.
Sometimes the opponent does have something to do with how you play. I though Xavier played softer defense than Providence, Seton Hall or St. John's. Was Xavier overconfident? I thought their defense was consistently weak the entire game. There were consistent seams in their defense that looked open to RJ and he was also allowed many open looks by the Xavier D from 3 that the other teams did not give him. Bouknight would have dropped 40 on that team. The return match against PC will be telling.
Very true or sometimes playing aggressively on offense forces the D to hedge over and creates those openings. But one thing you can't do on offense is play scared and passive, so emphatically yes vs. PC.... Dan said Cooley using the soft back court traps and his guys not attacking, " letting the clock run down to 17 or 18 secs before they even got into their offense" was a big problem. So I'm looking for him to earn his money and show me how good a HC he is in round 2.
Very true quote by DH , like you and I mentioned above let's see what's up and keep it going vs. PC
This win really was a turning point. If they don't have this win without Bouk they aren't where they are now. Big game in retrospect.
Still don't like the Ollieism about success though.
Still don't like the Ollieism about success though.
Similar threads
Latest posts
-
-
FB Recruiting UConn Basketball lands Michigan transfer big man Tarris Reed Jr.- Latest: KhalidShockedTheWorld
-
BB Recruiting UConn set to host five star recruit soon….
- Latest: KhalidShockedTheWorld
-