What stood out

[andersonfro]

I've been away because I got a little testy about the KO hire (thought it was a bad idea) & I didn't like how I was talking to people. I'm not here for gloating I'm just good in the head & ready to be cool.


1. The post players

These guys are lepers on the offensive end, Kentan & Amida don't get touches. Please stop saying these kids are bad or that they've "regressed" or some other such nonsense. They're not included in the offense.

Steve, I feel bad for the kid, such skill with no bb iq. He simply doesn't know where to be.


2. Small ball

That effort was...lacking. 5 small guys being pigs until the shot clock gets inside 8 and nobody crashes. If I never see this lineup again it'll be too soon.

3. Coaching

This sentence is the only time I'm going to mention the last possession.

Didn't Miller coach an Ivy League team to a scoring record? Can he have the clipboard and maybe KO can do the recruiting?

I assumed KO was going to have growing pains & I was mentally prepared for it. What I completely underestimated was his unwavering stubbornness. Why is he still trying to run that horrible offense?

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

The post players shouldn't need touches, they should be able to get putbacks and garbage off rebounds from failed drives but they don't offensive rebound. They also don't defend the boards. The last 3 games UConn has given up 16, 11 and 17 offensive rebounds.

This is the central problem of the team. Last year Hamilton averaged almost 9 boards a game and nobody on the current team is a reliable rebounder. They would play Diarra and Enoch more if they could but Diarra is hurt and Enoch can't play more than 2-4 minutes before picking up 2 fouls quickly.

But on the few occasions when Brimah has gotten a good entry pass and had good post position, he has missed his shots. And there is nobody to rebound his misses.

From what I have seen so far in the first two games the UConn big men have been pretty bad. Brimah had an okay game last night but no help at all. It also makes no sense to have 12 or more blocked shots against a team that has so many wide open looks at 3 pointers. There is no point in blocking shots if the perimeter players leave their men open.

 

[andersonfro]

Amida got 7 boards and 8 blocks in 26 minutes. He was no help? What we're you watching?

 

[USNA90]

I have a different take on the shot blocking. I question why all the defenders collapsed into the paint whenever there was penetration. Aside from the glaring question of why UConn guards allowed so much penetration, why did everyone collapse when Brimah was there to protect the rim? There were way too many undefended three point shots allowed following a drive which drew all of the defenders into the paint.

 

[12rtackerman12]

The biggest thing that stood out to me was coaching. Everybody is consistently out of position on defense and we pretty much have no offense its just 5 guys trying to go one on one and then when they finally do pass it the person that gets the ball usually chucks up a very bad shot.

 

[the Blades]

I have a different take on the shot blocking. I question why all the defenders collapsed into the paint whenever there was penetration. Aside from the glaring question of why UConn guards allowed so much penetration, why did everyone collapse when Brimah was there to protect the rim? There were way too many undefended three point shots allowed following a drive which drew all of the defenders into the paint.

BINGO, you win the Bonus prize, nothing is going to change against these small ball teams unless this is corrected.....if they stay with their men at the 3 point line the driver has nowhere to go with the ball and no passing lane to an outside shooter when he drives and his only option is getting it blocked, if Brimah is in. Gilbert was glaring last night after Uconn got a lead, he'd watch the ball on the otherside of the court and his man would just slip away from him behind the line 3pt line to an open spot. when AG looked back his guy was gone, just plain dumb defense>>>SMH !.....but it's been all of the off ball perimeter defenders vs. theses small ball teams and our $3mil a year coach, still hasn't been able to get it through their thick heads. Then I also saw KO take Brimah out right after he was making up for these guys at the rim on D and try to go smaller to correct it....now he's gone small with no one to make up for their weak job stoping penetration ... with the same problem of losing their men on the perimeter. ....I swear he has no clue how to make any corrections or adjustments in game and alot of times KO make things worse.

From Jacobs article:
" If everybody had played with the fire and passion Amida Brimah showed on this night, Ollie said his team would have been fine. Brimah blocked eight shots and had seven rebounds in 26 minutes. Then again, Northeastern did a fine job of penetrating, kicking the ball out and finding the open three. Northeastern hit nine of them.......
Everybody's a magnet to the ball," Ollie said.

Also regarding rebounding: " If only everybody was a magnet to a loose rebound. One answer obviously is freshman Mamadou Diarra. The freshman out of Putnam Science Academy walked into Storrs saying he wanted to rebound, rebound, rebound. Well, it turns out his knees could be more than a minor problem. He dressed and didn't play either of the first two games."

Jacobs: How Has UConn Looked? Lousy, And Huskies Have 0-2 Record To Show For It

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

Granted the perimeter defense has been beyond awful, but here is the thing: UConn has not been awful defensively the last 4 years. UConn was one of the top defensive teams in the country last year in defensive efficiency. So it's not like there is a history of this defensive awfulness. So it's not like all of a sudden anyone stopped teaching defensive principles that are discussed on this thread. They just are not being learned, at least not very quickly. So maybe some of it is on the players for being dummies. Gilbert did not play well defensively and left his man to collapse a bunch of times. Adams has at times just stopped playing any defense. So let's not put it all on the coaches and give these guys passes. Does KO need to yell at and cajole these guys more? Yes.

It concerned me a little when I heard that Ollie was trying to keep things simple for them and not throw a lot of detail at them right away. To me that suggests he believed or believes that they are struggling to pick up things. And I also think the bad shooting has effected guys on the defensive end. But you can't play basketball allowing a brood over a missed shot to be carried over onto defense.

What there has been a history of is bad rebounding, which has gone on for a while now. The invisibility of Facey and Enoch- total non-contributors the first two games- is a huge problem. In Facey's case I don't really get it because he played well in the exhibitions, looks bigger and generally hustles, but he just has not contributed anything. Enoch, as has been mentioned, doesn't know how to play or where he needs to be almost continuously. The basketball court looks like a complex maze to the dazzled young Enoch. I honestly think his best game as a UConn player was the exhibition against New Haven as a freshman and he peaked at that time.

I am just trying to understand these two losses because I did not see them coming and even though the perimeter defense wasn't good in the exhibition games, it looked like it was a fixable issue.

 

[the Blades]

I am just trying to understand these two losses .

I hear that KSTW....aren't we all >>>>SMH !!!

 

[CaNOLEE]

I was thinking the same thing last night watching live about the help defense. We have an eraser at the hoop that already has a national championship and had 8 blocks in the game, why does everyone sag to help? I would think someone from the sideline would tell them not too.

Additionally, when Ollie questions his teams toughness, does he realize that he's essentially the GM as well and these are all of his players? If you want tough guys, first off, recruit them and then put so much pressure on them in practice, they harden.

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

It definitely makes no sense. A great shot blocker is supposed to embolden his perimeter defenders to go for steals and gamble on picking passes off, with the worst case scenario being that the player with the ball is then encouraged to drive in to the shot blocker. It was like why is Brimah bothering to block all these shots if there is help, he should have been blocking out so that Northeastern could not attack the boards for 17 O-boards, which is obscene.

 

[KhalidShockedTheWorld]

Amida got 7 boards and 8 blocks in 26 minutes. He was no help? What we're you watching?

I said he got no help, and he didn't.