Bouknight Ejected From UConn-Xavier Game

TripleDribbleMan

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What happened? He was sitting in the front row. He didn't seem to protest. Ejected by referee, not security.
 

the Blades

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I wish DH and his passive 2nd half offense( with soft lob passes to guys who aren't movin to the ball or hand offs 25 feet from the hoop), would have got ejected too. How many balls were stolen and TO's (looks like 14 in the half , SMH !) did they give up in the 2nd because his team won't even look at the rim until they have to force up some BS !!! Does this tool even understand why he let Xavier back into this game ???

One team is getting the ball and attacking every match-up, for either a shot or until nothing is there and they kick it to next nest guy who does the same, BUT THEY GET a SHOT UP every time down ! And force Uconn to play tireless D on every possession.

But not DH, he'd rather have is team play catch, set screens and run around in circles praying they get a pass and shot off, until they lose it again. DH is never gonna go anywhere come tourney time with what he runs with these pass it around the perimeter sets ( saw the same thing vs. Providence in the 1st half ). HE makes the game to hard on his own team with this passive O ( that is all on him ) yet he won't look in the mirror to figure out why. It ain't that hard DH... you beat aggression with aggression. Not playing hot potato until it gets stole.

Go Huskies !.... Just Win baby right KTSW !
 
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TripleDribbleMan

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I wish DH and his passive 2nd half offense( with soft lob passes to guys who aren't movin to the ball or hand offs 25 feet from the hoop), would have got ejected too. How many balls were stolen and TO's (looks like 14 in the half , SMH !) did they give up in the 2nd because his team won't even look at the rim until they have to force up some BS !!! Does this tool even understand why he let Xavier back into this game ???
One problem was that Cole picked up his 3rd foul and when Gaffney came in the team seemed disorganized and rudderless. I am wondering if Gaffney is in psynch with his teammates because the body language I saw on the rest of the team exuded confusion and disorganization with guys not knowing what to do with the ball.

Hurley took note of that in his presser and said the same scenario was evident at the beginning of the game and he suggested there would be changes in what they will be running.

Generally speaking- UConn has not had a backup point guard all year, and Cole himself is not really a pure point guard but more of a scorer. Diggins never plays, and Gaffney has not really developed and looks like more of a deep bench guard. Which is disappointing because he seems to have some talent. But he just has not progressed. Help is needed at this position.
 

the Blades

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One problem was that Cole picked up his 3rd foul and when Gaffney came in the team seemed disorganized and rudderless. Generally speaking- UConn has not had a backup point guard
True about Gaffney being the biggest enigma on this team, when we recall that Uconn didn't start winning and playing better at the end of his FR year until he replaced Gilbert as the starter and played with much more poise running the team. Somewhere along the line he seems to play completley unsure of himself and has lost feel of the game.

But they were playing like *** way B4 he came, right at the start of the 2nd. So his 3 assists to only 1 TO had very little to do with the 15 steals/14 2nd half TO's that Uconn gave up today. Gaf actually did what was needed more by Uconn's players in the 2nd half, instead of playing hot potato. When he beat his man off the dribble ( minus, of course, blowing the wide open lay-up. )
 
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the Blades

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Hurley took note of that in his presser and said the same scenario was evident at the beginning of the game and he suggested there would be changes in what they will be running.
Yeah just listened to the entire presser. DH talked about the weak passing and passive offense by trying to force specific things that aren't there. So at least he's being honest and took responsibility about not even getting shots off and getting it stolen being self inflicted. So yeah this was all on him and had little to do with Gaffney who wasn't even in the game. When the following happened all right at the start of the 2nd before the 1st TV timeout :

19:50 TURNOVER by COLE,RJ - STEAL by FREEMANTLE,ZACH
19:14 TURNOVER by JACKSON,ANDRE - STEAL by SCRUGGS,PAUL
18:42 TURNOVER by SANOGO,ADAMA
16:52 TURNOVER by SANOGO,ADAMA - STEAL by ODOM,DWON

My other thought is that Calhoun would've probably went ballistic after the 2nd TO and would have ripped into em' right then. But since DH was telling them to run some of this pass it around the perimeter crap ( until they find the match-up they want) , he just sat there and let it snowball. ( or "meltdown" as he put it)

This is the problem when other teams pressure and take away what you want to do, that DH seems to have in his offense. Guys have to have it in their mind to search out seams and attack. Not keep passing it around until it gets stolen or the shot clock runs out and then your forcing up a prayer.
 
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TripleDribbleMan

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Guys have to have it in their mind to search out seams and attack.
With any offense you have to have guys who can execute and much of this offense is read and react. Read and react relies on guys having very high basketball IQ and are very instinctual. One way to look at the issue is that the players are lacking aggression to execute, another is that they are tentative because they are having difficulty in the read and react process. My feeling is the UConn guys are all basically a coachable group and that if they see enough different looks eventually they will figure out what they need to do to attack the defense that is being used to counter what they are doing. Driving to the hoop in these situations is easier said then done- as you said there are seams in the defense that the guys need to attack, but sometimes the seams close up very quickly against the better teams and the driver is then in a situation where he is prone to offensive foul or TO. Something great is not necessarily going to happen. I think a problem UConn has is that Cole and Gaffney are not great pure penetrating guards and they need large seams. Cole does have an interesting and clever assortment of change of direction and spin moves, but with small seams in the defense those moves do not help as much as pure explosion to the basket, something Kemba had in his UConn days, but which Cole may be a little short of.
 

the Blades

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Driving to the hoop in these situations is easier said then done- as you said there are seams in the defense that the guys need to attack, but sometimes the seams close up very quickly against the better teams and the driver is then in a situation where he is prone to offensive foul or TO.
Good points, but the hot potato 20-25 feet from the hoop still handing it off to bigs with under 10 secs ( which happens alot) should never happen. Because eventually it's gonna need to be in a guys hands who has some ability to drive it, mainly your PG (Cole as 1A or probably Martin as 1B or Gaf when he's in, AJ can a little, but scares me more than any of them with some of the bizarre things he does off the bounce). Not still playing catch with Cole circle around some screens hoping he gets it back and is then forced to drive anyway and put up a some hail mary shot under 5 secs.

And the other point regarding driving the seams is it doesn't always have to be a forced shot( which like you said could be a charge). Get the D on their heels to force help coverage which opens up a pass to someone else. I also like the back door cuts in the Seton Hall game on their overplay, which was another good option. But anyone who can't take a man off his dribble ( the bigs) should never get the ball out at the top of the key stranded out there, it's a TO waiting to happen.
 

the Blades

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What happened? He was sitting in the front row. He didn't seem to protest. Ejected by referee, not security.
Interesting if you watch James (black jacket) in the courtside seats, in the 1st half at the Uconn hoop, he looks like he's standing on the court everytime Uconn scores....

 
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TripleDribbleMan

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That's apparently why he got ejected. But it appears he was just ejected from the courtside seats and that stopped the issue of him being on the Court after UConn scores. He later went into the student section.

My guess is the ref got uncomfortable and thought Bouk could get in his way or the players by being on the Court.
 

the Blades

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True about Gaffney being the biggest enigma on this team, when we recall that Uconn didn't start winning and playing better at the end of his FR year until he replaced Gilbert as the starter and played with much more poise running the team. Somewhere along the line he seems to play completely unsure of himself and has lost feel of the game.
So here's the media "Gaffney follow up" on what we discussed KSTW.
Do they read these message boards ?

“It’s definitely been difficult for me,” he said. “I haven’t been playing my best at all, as much a I want to. But I’m trying. I’m working hard on myself, working on my confidence, honestly. That’s where it comes from.


 
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TripleDribbleMan

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They read message boards to get ideas on what to write about the team? Maybe they think we represent the pulse of UConn Fan Nation. Anyway, it is a valid issue to be writing about. I personally think Gaffney isn't as productive as he should be. I could say the same thing about Evina Westbrook on the women's team, although she has been more of a contributor than Gaff.