Uconn @ USF
- Thread starter the Blades
- Start date
Story on another KO miss ( avg. a double - double ^^^ for USF) who was in his own backyard at PSA in CT.... Instead KO decided to offer Whaley:
I was looking at USF’s schedule and they really haven’t beaten or played anyone good. Their best result to date was to lose to Georgetown on the road in OT. Their other loss was at home to the Citadel. They didn’t beat anyone who is likely a top 100 NET team. UConn probably should be a 1 point favorite in this game or pick em, but I suspect USF might be favored.
As I posted in the other thread, despite the 10-2 record, their NET ranking reflects their SOS and has them below Uconn ...... But once again Hurley's small ball will be a D & REB match-up problem
The ESPN matchup predictor gives UConn a 53.5% chance to win, so UConn is favored in this polling, but keep in mind so was Hilary Clinton in 2016 Presidential race polling:
http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/game?gameId=401084621
http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/game?gameId=401084621
USF's head coach Brian Gregory held a media avail Monday. He talked about UConn as well as other topics. My apologies on the video of Gregory. For some reason the auto focus didn't do it's job.
I think Yetna was only asked one question about playing UConn but in case you wanted to hear what he had to say, here ya go
I think Yetna was only asked one question about playing UConn but in case you wanted to hear what he had to say, here ya go
Definitely none of those guys have done anything to separate themselves. I thought collectively they would be better than they have been. Yakwe seems like he best fits what Hurley wants out of a big, but he is too undersized and too offensively challenged to warrant starter’s minutes. Carlton’s invisibility against better teams and lack of progression is very disappointing. Cobb seems to have work ethic issues but the offense moves so much better when he is out there and if USF plays any zone he should be in the game.
At this point there is nothing to do except play all 3 in rotation and see who if any of them seizes the opportunity for more PT. IMHO they all deserve to split minutes for now.
At this point there is nothing to do except play all 3 in rotation and see who if any of them seizes the opportunity for more PT. IMHO they all deserve to split minutes for now.
As I've said a million times, Hurley needs to double up with a center and a power forward to protect the paint and board. Use 2 of them....I know it's tough with the roster KO left him. But Polley can't rebound and he sure as hell can't guard these 6-8 235 lb PFs. ( then he brings in the 177lb Wilson and it becomes worse)... I'm also thinking part of Jalen's problem now is that he's forced to guard forwards that have 4-5 inches on him...As a FR and a SO he was covering the other teams PG. This small ball doesn't work unless you turn the other team over for quick points and take care of the BB.... 2 things that Uconn hasn't done when they step up in comp.
DH mentions coaching up AG. I'm assuming he's talking about his out of control drives into the trees where he has no where to go and continues to throw up wild shots.
" I have to help him more by coaching that position better for him. Kind of like, coaching him possession in and possession out, all season long, every practice, getting him to think like a point guard.”
THANK YOU it's not a hard concept.....don't beat yourself with terrible quick/forced shots....make the other team work on D. I hope these guys start to understand this...
“We’ll still try to play fast off turnovers and misses,” Hurley said. “But we’ve gotten irresponsible off makes, some of our worst shots come off makes, and to me as a coach that’s embarrassing. We’ve just got to make people expend some energy at their defensive end and make the other team spend 22 seconds guarding us."
" I have to help him more by coaching that position better for him. Kind of like, coaching him possession in and possession out, all season long, every practice, getting him to think like a point guard.”
THANK YOU it's not a hard concept.....don't beat yourself with terrible quick/forced shots....make the other team work on D. I hope these guys start to understand this...
“We’ll still try to play fast off turnovers and misses,” Hurley said. “But we’ve gotten irresponsible off makes, some of our worst shots come off makes, and to me as a coach that’s embarrassing. We’ve just got to make people expend some energy at their defensive end and make the other team spend 22 seconds guarding us."
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The problem is that AG’s basketball skills are excellent but his basketball IQ, court vision and ability to think on the fly is not. He plays too fast and pushes the pace even when there is nothing there. He will get better with experience, but to me he isn’t as ready as hoped. He does need to be coached up, and hopefully a light bulb will go on at some point.
We saw some of the same wild, too fast play from Kembs Walker his first two years, but Kemba was on a different level mentally. Kemba was able to attack the rim and absorb contact and make plays. It was mental. AG isn’t the same and doesn’t attack the rim nearly as effectively.
We saw some of the same wild, too fast play from Kembs Walker his first two years, but Kemba was on a different level mentally. Kemba was able to attack the rim and absorb contact and make plays. It was mental. AG isn’t the same and doesn’t attack the rim nearly as effectively.
It also might not hurt to have Jalen at the point more often again. He did lead the AAC in assists and was in the top 3 ....2 years in a row. It might promote better ball movement if he starts thinking like a PG again. While AG, if he played off the ball is 2nd in the AAC on 3's at .446%....
I like the idea of Jalen and AG splitting PG duties better than the "double trouble" idea. "Double Trouble" may need to be done against certain bigger and more physical teams, but my fundamental issue with it is that none of the 4 rotation bigs (including the currently absent Diarra) has so far distinguished himself as an automatic starter, or worthy of starter minutes. It's troubling to be playing guys lots of minutes that have not been earned, but for the fact that they are taller or bigger than other possible rotation players. Some of Hurley's small ball has been dictated by the fact that he goes 5 deep at guard, 4 of whom are arguably starting calibre, while none of the bigs is really a lockdown starter at this point. And while Polley may be an anemic rebounder, the totals being amassed by the supposed true bigs are nothing to write home about. Cobb is averaging 4.3 rpg, Carlton is averaging 4.2 rpg, and Yakwe 2.4. As a team, UConn is barely outrebounding its opponents and very easily could go into negative numbers once AAC play starts. So "double trouble" sounds good but the guys you are putting in there are not posting big rebound numbers. These guys are not rebounding beasts like Oriakhi, or Drummond or Roscoe Smith or even Jeff Adrien who looks like a rebounding God compared to anyone in a UConn uniform the last 5 years.
https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/connecticut/2019.html#per_min::none
Cobb & Carlton (behind KW amd IW is in there too) are the rebounding leaders by far when you figure in their minutes
Cobb & Carlton (behind KW amd IW is in there too) are the rebounding leaders by far when you figure in their minutes
Cobb and Carlton are the rebounding leaders but they are not rebounding like past bigs UConn has had. Cobb has looked good on the boards in a few games but nothing sustained. He has recently not even played.
Look at everyone's 40 minute numbers I just posted. You've mentioned about Cobb not playing last game.... something seems to be going on between Hurley & Cobb. Maybe DH doesn't like his D ? ...because Cobb's's avg. 15.5 pts/ 13 rebs per 40min (That's better than Andre, Roscoe and AO).....Polley's avg. 13.7 and 3.8 rebs per 40...
Looks like Cobb's minutes just went up of necessity. But without Yakwe the UConn rim will be vulnerable to attack.
It's been vulnerable to attack, DH doesn't have enough bigs to begin with. So true , maybe his small ball line-up needs to learn to stay in front of their men on D
....adjustments, adjustments, you can't keep playin' reckless pressure if there is no one to protect the paint.
I have seen that in this game BUT the USF rim has also been attacked repeatedly in this game. The best way to respond to a rim attack is counterattacks on the opposing rim.
UConn was outrebounded in the first half but is outshooting USF 44% to 32% but didn’t like the way that half ended.
Khalid El Amin in the CBS SN studio tonight!
Khalid El Amin in the CBS SN studio tonight!
Jalen Adams has again had some very sloppy TOs tonight, letting the ball get poked away from him several times when he just didn’t seem aware.
UConn has completely folded in this game mentally and physically. An 8 point UConn halftime lead has gone to UConn down 9 with 6 minutes to go after an absolute USF assault of UConn on the boards. Now that USF made a couple of 3s they are rolling.
This to me was UConn’s most disappointing game of the year. They look like they will be very hard pressed to win AAC league games this season. There is no real power inside defensively or on the boards. Teams can pound them inside. Yenta and company gave UConn a good thrashing on the boards tonight. USF is plus 15 on the boards and this onslaught on the glass has overcome poor USF FT shooting and terrible press breaks at the end of the game that served to prevent a much bigger spread on the final score.
I can’t look at the schedule right now and say any of the next 3 games will be wins.
I can’t look at the schedule right now and say any of the next 3 games will be wins.
I had planned to post a video of Coach Hurley's post game presser in this thread, but for some reason he did not come into the interview room. This year the AAC mandated that visiting coaches comme to the interview room. Not sure why he didn't come over, there were media members from Connecticut here waiting for him.
I was really hoping to not have to see games with no heart and no IQ with Dan at the helm. This was like pretty much any game we saw last year. Disgusted.
That was pretty much it Dom. UConn lost the game on the boards but there were other issues. At halftime USF was plus 1 on the glass and finished the game around plus 15, which tells you the story- offfensive rebounding blitzkrieg. There seemed to be a few sequences of possessions in which USF muscled 3 straight O boards and scored.
While that was not a huge surprise, the ball repeatedly being poked away from unfocused UConn players on the perimeter with fast breaks going the other way and then fouls was annoying. Jalen had it happen twice and Polley once that I saw. Just a total lack of focus and basic ball security. If I saw one more poke steal by that guy I was gonna puke.
Polley might have set a record for missed wide open looks.
And then little things all game like Cobb making the best no look pass on the money to Sidney Wilson only to have Sidney muff the layup on a ball that should have been jammed big time. Blowing a well deserved Cobb assist.
The game was a pukefest of Bad basketballl but at the same time I congratulate USF for playing hard on D and the glass and getting a much deserved win against UConn.
While that was not a huge surprise, the ball repeatedly being poked away from unfocused UConn players on the perimeter with fast breaks going the other way and then fouls was annoying. Jalen had it happen twice and Polley once that I saw. Just a total lack of focus and basic ball security. If I saw one more poke steal by that guy I was gonna puke.
Polley might have set a record for missed wide open looks.
And then little things all game like Cobb making the best no look pass on the money to Sidney Wilson only to have Sidney muff the layup on a ball that should have been jammed big time. Blowing a well deserved Cobb assist.
The game was a pukefest of Bad basketballl but at the same time I congratulate USF for playing hard on D and the glass and getting a much deserved win against UConn.
Expect more of the same. They don't play smart or tough enough to begin with unless they're front running vs. some low major. But there's an old saying in hoops " you can't coach height".....Look at this line-up on paper (vs. the teams I've been posting) ....... it's the same thing I've been saying for a couple of years. ANOREXIC.... Last time Uconn made the NCAA's they played Brimah 7-0/240, Shonn Miller 6-7/230 and Hamilton @ 6-7( a great rebounder) in the front court backed up by Nolan and Facey, both 6-10. Then they had Purvis 6-4/205 with Gibbs and Adams in the backcourt.
Hurley's convinced himself he's still in the the NE conference or the A-10. And he can put four 6-2 or so guys out there and expect to compete, along with 2 power forwards that weigh 200lbs (who had 1 reb in 27 mins) and 177lbs. There are low majors that don't play line-ups this short and weak. This roster is all on KO but DH's got to start recruiting players immediately that change that narrative. It's great he brought in 2 more skinny guards but Akok at 6-10 /200 is another in a long line of recent bean poles that keep coming in. Where's the beef? UCONN has probably never played a line-up this small since the 50's or 60's, it's a highschool sized line-up.... and we wonder why this keeps happening over and over.
Guys like USF's Gregory who coached with Izzo at Mich St. and values size, didn't take long to figure out how to exploit these mental midgets. Just keep pounding them inside. Problem is there are alot of teams in the AAC that have size (UCF starts 7-6 and 6-11/240 at the 4 and 5) and your not gonna beat these teams once they start exploiting this small ball crap.
Box Score
Hurley's convinced himself he's still in the the NE conference or the A-10. And he can put four 6-2 or so guys out there and expect to compete, along with 2 power forwards that weigh 200lbs (who had 1 reb in 27 mins) and 177lbs. There are low majors that don't play line-ups this short and weak. This roster is all on KO but DH's got to start recruiting players immediately that change that narrative. It's great he brought in 2 more skinny guards but Akok at 6-10 /200 is another in a long line of recent bean poles that keep coming in. Where's the beef? UCONN has probably never played a line-up this small since the 50's or 60's, it's a highschool sized line-up.... and we wonder why this keeps happening over and over.
Guys like USF's Gregory who coached with Izzo at Mich St. and values size, didn't take long to figure out how to exploit these mental midgets. Just keep pounding them inside. Problem is there are alot of teams in the AAC that have size (UCF starts 7-6 and 6-11/240 at the 4 and 5) and your not gonna beat these teams once they start exploiting this small ball crap.
Box Score
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If last night was not a loud statement to DH of the failure of small ball I don’t know what would be. But he has no other answers on this roster. Going forward he will need to play Cobb more and if and when Diarra is healthy, he will help on the boards. I thought Cobb did much better last night than Carlton, who was awful.
Whaley played a lot later in the game but I don’t think he is much more than an extra body.
Whaley played a lot later in the game but I don’t think he is much more than an extra body.
True, this has been the case since since KO lost these 3 in one off season
Vance Jackson stats
Juwan Durham stats
Steven Enoch stats
and it's never been addressed accept to keep playing smaller.
Cobb had 7 boards in 15 minutes last night
Carlton 3 boards in 17 mins
Polley 1 board in 27 minutes
Carlton 3 boards in 17 mins
Polley 1 board in 27 minutes
I agree this was a game we should not have lost. Very disappointing.
Polley had 4-5 opportunities to hit wide open dagger three’s to extend leads and missed them all.
But 48 FT’s for USF? And their stocky PG played like Shaq and walked more than Patrick Ewing.
Still can’t lose this game. Will and talent have to win out and I’m starting to think we have less than I originally thought.
Polley had 4-5 opportunities to hit wide open dagger three’s to extend leads and missed them all.
But 48 FT’s for USF? And their stocky PG played like Shaq and walked more than Patrick Ewing.
Still can’t lose this game. Will and talent have to win out and I’m starting to think we have less than I originally thought.
Those three players would make this team look so different. Polly is terrible. Sorry, not trying to be mean but he is terrible, BSmith is terrible, Whaley is terrible, Cobb is bad, Carlton was nothing close to anything but TERRIBLE, Adams was average at best, Vital was all effort and above average, etc......nothing good in there. Forgot Gilbert.....that kid has regressed something terrible.
Just one game but man.....Nova smashed us and our heart was demolished.......we will see what DH is made of.
Just one game but man.....Nova smashed us and our heart was demolished.......we will see what DH is made of.