UConn Thoughts

[General20]

I don't think I've ever referred anybody to highlights before, mostly because highlights by definition are unique moments that occur outside the normal flow of the game, so they are usually pretty useless if you want to learn why your team won or lost, or how good your team is. But I think these highlights explain a lot so go ahead and rewatch them.

Most of our highlights take place around the rim, pay attention to that, but this time don't watch our guys dunking. Instead look only at the UConn big men and watch for the kind of rim protecting presence (or lack there of) they have. What you should come away thinking is that UConn is a team with mid-major talent. If you want to nit-pick I suppose you could say that they have mid-major talent plus Jalen Adams. So take everything that happened in this game with a huge grain of salt.

In my opinion this was the worst game Syracuse has played to date, both offensively and defensively. Every single ACC team beats the Syracuse team that showed up last night, and I say that knowing that there are a few really putrid ACC teams this year. I don't think it will surprise anyone to hear me say that the major problem on offense was Frank Howard. Though I do believe that people are having a hard time seeing why Howard played so bad. The answer is, he really struggles to shoot, pass, and even dribble through contact. We've seen this problem show up in places all year long, like blips on a radar screen. This was the first game where the problem became chronic.

The best coaching move Ollie made all day was putting Antowine Anderson on Howard and telling him to bump and grab every time, even when he had four fouls. Anderson is a graduate transfer from Fordham, and even though he's not a great basketball player (he only scored 3 points and 3 turnovers offensively) he was still the team MVP by a wide margin because his maturity and physicality absolutely embarrassed Howard defensively. Anderson played 38 minutes despite racking up 4 fouls. Ollie rolled the dice hoping that the refs wouldn't foul him out, and despite a crew that was pretty quick on the whistle with the bigs, they obliged.

The good news for us is that this strategy is not really repeatable by future coaches. ACC refs tend to call fouls on that kind of rough play, and not many teams will have a big strong guard they are willing to let foul out. Still, at some point this season Howard is bound to run into physical defending that the officials decide to allow. In those situations he needs to do a better job of selling the fouls. Remember the flops Devonte Graham broke out against us? That's the kind of thing Howard needs to do. One or two extra cheap fouls can make all the difference. Boeheim specifically said in his post game press conference that Howard was going to learn something from this game and would not play this bad again. I suspect a conversation about all this has already taken place between the two of them. Lets hope Howard learns from it, because the next time he plays that badly, we will lose.

Defensively UConn threw the kitchen sink at us. They pressed, they trapped at half court, they zoned us, and they played man. I hope I never see Syracuse desperately switch from D to D like that as long as I live. Playing team D takes choreography, and college teams are not allowed to practice long enough to master too many different variations. If you're trying more than two types of D in a single game, you're desperate and something has gone terribly wrong. None of UConn's defenses were very good, and we are probably lucky they didn't just play half court man to man D with an emphasis on tempting Howard to drive to the basket then bumping him, but instead relied on gimmicks that didn't work.

Defensively Syracuse stuck with the 2-3 zone the whole game as they should have, but often times they were confused and gave up way too many open shots. Our young team hasn't learned all the rotations yet. They will be a good defensive team when they do, but they're not all that good right now. The saving grace in this game was that UConn threw the ball directly to us about 10 times for easy steals. That won't happen against better teams.

If you really want to put this game into perspective., think about the 17 point lead Syracuse built in the first half. They weren't playing any kind of inspired basketball, they weren't shooting well, they were just doing what they do. An average performance would have yielded a 30+ point victory. The fact that Syracuse lost the game from the 3 minute mark of the first half on (when average = blowout) shows you just how terribly they played.


Individual performances:

Howard - Everybody has bad days. Its fine to have a bad game. Howard's performance was something far worse than bad. It was unacceptable. We really can't afford to have him play that bad ever again.

Battle - Scored 22 points while shooting 50% from the field (minus one missed dunk) and playing great D. On paper it looks like a wonderful game, but I can't help feeling like he could have played better. On some level that's a compliment to Battle. I'm already expecting greatness. But I have to remember that he is new at being "the man." Boeheim will often times try to make things easier for guys like this by narrowing their focus. Just get the points we need you to get, don't worry about doing it all. As Battle gets more experienced his responsibilities will increase. Still, with Howard struggling so much, I would have liked to see Battle handle the playmaking more, and do a better job of it than he did. On the plus side I didn't notice him grabbing for his back at any point in the game, for the first time since the injury.

Brissett - His games have pretty much all been carbon copies of each other up to this point, and that's not a bad thing. Just know this game is the floor, not the ceiling. The breakout will come eventually. Its just a waiting game at this point.

Moyer - You've got to be happy for Moyer, and hope that this game leads to more inspired play from him, but we should also acknowledge that most of Moyer's points came from exploiting UConn's complete lack rebounding, rim protection, and physicality under the basket. This was not a performance that's repeatable against better teams. While he probably won't be scoring 18 points in ACC play, I do think that kind of aggression can lead to more regular 6-10 point performances which will make a big difference for us.

Chukwu - He got the reputation of a bad free throw shooter from a very small sample size (he missed his first 8 free throws or something like that). Is it possible that he's actually a pretty solid free throw shooter for a big guy? We don't know for sure yet, but his game seems to be expanding by the day.

Washington - Should he have played more given how much Howard was struggling? If this was the national championship, then the answer is definitely yes. But Boeheim was probably thinking long term and decided that Howard needs to learn how to work though games like this one. I tend to trust his judgment on things like this. Washington will get plenty of minutes against Colgate.

Dolezaj - Hopefully he learns something from Moyer's performance. Dolezaj is taller than Moyer and a better athlete. He's actually better suited to put up a performance like the one Moyer had than Moyer himself is. I have a number in mind, and that number is 4. If Dolezaj is taking four shots or more I'm happy regardless of the outcome. If Dolezaj is taking less than 4 shots I'm not happy. He does deserves a pass in this game however seeing as Moyer was scoring like crazy and Dolezaj was mostly playing out of position as a center. My only small gripe is that Dolezaj had the ball with nobody between him and the basket a couple times towards the end when UConn pressed and he chose to hold the ball up rather than driving to the basket and scoring or drawing a foul.

Sidibe - There are 10 days between now and the Georgetown game. I don't care if he plays against Colgate. I'm hoping he looks like a new man against Georgetown because he makes us better, though I will say this, Dolezaj is a pretty decent rim protector for a skinny forward. Syracuse has a nice stretch off between now and Georgetown with only the Colgate game (which is a glorified practice) between, and the break couldn't come at a better time. This team is beat up and needs some time to lick its wounds.

 

[RF2044]

Your assessment's of Howard's performance last game was succinct and spot-on.

 

[JazzNC]

Sadly, I agree with your assessment. The UCONN win is good because it's a non-conference win, something we struggled to get last year. BUT I agree we likely would've lost the game if we were playing an ACC caliber team.

Moyer feasted on a small team. It remains to be seen if he can continue this level of play. I like the kid and hope this gives him confidence.

Frank was putrid, and if I was coaching against SU in future games I'd bang him up, pressure him and get inside his head on EVERY possession.

Oshae is progressing and I love his potential.

Bourama needs to get healthy even if that means sitting out next game.

Marek is not capable of playing center against ACC competition. He needs to drive the ball when he's left wide open. Love his hustle/IQ.

Tyus needs to stop pushing off so much. He could be called with an offensive foul about 50% of the time. Other than that he's been rock steady.

Chukwu is improving. I'm not convinced he can compete against the bigger/stronger teams in the ACC without getting in foul trouble.

In any case, it is a win. A NON-CONFERENCE WIN against a team in a decent conference. It will help come March, I hope. We've got a lot of work to do. I believe the talent is there to compete.

Go Orange!

 

[OttoinGrotto]

Chukwu is waaaaaay better on the offensive end than I was expecting.

As for the comment that Frankie needs to learn to pick up some cheapies, that shows how much the game has changed. I'm actually a little surprised to see you advocate for baiting whistles, since I know you hate that.

 

[newmexicuse]

A very insightful post in many respects, but I do have a couple of nits to pick.

1. I do not see this as the worst game we have played to date except for one player. Everybody else had pretty solid games, and Moyer had an exceptional game. Now, I do grant that unacceptable PG play has a huge impact on team performance, but the TEAM did overcome that handicap.

2. I do not see how not taking Howard out for a few minutes helps him to work thru games like this. I see exactly the opposite, a few minutes of bench-time would have given Jimmy a great coaching opportunity to correct and would have allowed Frank to try and adjust on the fly. That will be a necessity the next time things get tough for the kid since he does not have a high enuf BB IQ to work through these things wo coaching. Allowing Frank to work through should mean not benching him for the game, it should not mean that he can't be sat down for a few minutes.

3. Loved your # 4 comment about Dolezaj. Yes, he is a better overall athlete than is Moyer below the rim, but Moyer is much better above and going to the rim. Moyer is also a better rebounder. Dolezaj is pretty decent from the FT line, that means he should be able to take open shots out to 15 feet reasonably effectively. Of course, his release is slow and low, so he needs to be wide open. Your point on the 4 is insightful, it seems like he passes up multiple "grabage" bucket opportunity shots each game. He needs to take and make most of those forward going plus a couple of outside J's when really wide open.

The rest of your post - absolutely outstanding as usual.

 

[General20]

Chukwu is waaaaaay better on the offensive end than I was expecting.

As for the comment that Frankie needs to learn to pick up some cheapies, that shows how much the game has changed. I'm actually a little surprised to see you advocate for baiting whistles, since I know you hate that.

You're right, if I ran basketball any player that flopped in an attempt to trick the official into giving him a call would receive a technical, and a huge emphisis would be placed on officials detecting illegal contact without the aid of exaggerated antics by the offensive player.

Unfortunately we dont live in that world, and if you cant shoot because a defender is in your face, and you cant get to the basket because he's illegally holding or bumping you, then you have to do what it takes to make sure the official sees it and makes the call.

 

[721Comstock]

Only thing I'll differ on is -
Marek pulled the ball back out, because we were trying to run clock at the end of the game, like JB has done since the dawn of time.
Yes, he may have gotten to the hoop, and/or gotten fouled doing so had he driven it - but that stops the clock, and if he blows that opportunity somehow, JB would absolutely flip his lid and chew him a new one.

Spot on everywhere else.
Hope we don't see Dib at all against the 'Gate, so he can rest up for the Hoyas.
Beyond psyched for Matty Nice, he now has a blueprint for what he can do to help the team moving forward.

 

[supp]

I don't think I've ever referred anybody to highlights before, mostly because highlights by definition are unique moments that occur outside the normal flow of the game, so they are usually pretty useless if you want to learn why your team won or lost, or how good your team is. But I think these highlights explain a lot so go ahead and rewatch them.

Most of our highlights take place around the rim, pay attention to that, but this time don't watch our guys dunking. Instead look only at the UConn big men and watch for the kind of rim protecting presence (or lack there of) they have. What you should come away thinking is that UConn is a team with mid-major talent. If you want to nit-pick I suppose you could say that they have mid-major talent plus Jalen Adams. So take everything that happened in this game with a huge grain of salt.

In my opinion this was the worst game Syracuse has played to date, both offensively and defensively. Every single ACC team beats the Syracuse team that showed up last night, and I say that knowing that there are a few really putrid ACC teams this year. I don't think it will surprise anyone to hear me say that the major problem on offense was Frank Howard. Though I do believe that people are having a hard time seeing why Howard played so bad. The answer is, he really struggles to shoot, pass, and even dribble through contact. We've seen this problem show up in places all year long, like blips on a radar screen. This was the first game where the problem became chronic.

The best coaching move Ollie made all day was putting Antowine Anderson on Howard and telling him to bump and grab every time, even when he had four fouls. Anderson is a graduate transfer from Fordham, and even though he's not a great basketball player (he only scored 3 points and 3 turnovers offensively) he was still the team MVP by a wide margin because his maturity and physicality absolutely embarrassed Howard defensively. Anderson played 38 minutes despite racking up 4 fouls. Ollie rolled the dice hoping that the refs wouldn't foul him out, and despite a crew that was pretty quick on the whistle with the bigs, they obliged.

The good news for us is that this strategy is not really repeatable by future coaches. ACC refs tend to call fouls on that kind of rough play, and not many teams will have a big strong guard they are willing to let foul out. Still, at some point this season Howard is bound to run into physical defending that the officials decide to allow. In those situations he needs to do a better job of selling the fouls. Remember the flops Devonte Graham broke out against us? That's the kind of thing Howard needs to do. One or two extra cheap fouls can make all the difference. Boeheim specifically said in his post game press conference that Howard was going to learn something from this game and would not play this bad again. I suspect a conversation about all this has already taken place between the two of them. Lets hope Howard learns from it, because the next time he plays that badly, we will lose.

Defensively UConn threw the kitchen sink at us. They pressed, they trapped at half court, they zoned us, and they played man. I hope I never see Syracuse desperately switch from D to D like that as long as I live. Playing team D takes choreography, and college teams are not allowed to practice long enough to master too many different variations. If you're trying more than two types of D in a single game, you're desperate and something has gone terribly wrong. None of UConn's defenses were very good, and we are probably lucky they didn't just play half court man to man D with an emphasis on tempting Howard to drive to the basket then bumping him, but instead relied on gimmicks that didn't work.

Defensively Syracuse stuck with the 2-3 zone the whole game as they should have, but often times they were confused and gave up way too many open shots. Our young team hasn't learned all the rotations yet. They will be a good defensive team when they do, but they're not all that good right now. The saving grace in this game was that UConn threw the ball directly to us about 10 times for easy steals. That won't happen against better teams.

If you really want to put this game into perspective., think about the 17 point lead Syracuse built in the first half. They weren't playing any kind of inspired basketball, they weren't shooting well, they were just doing what they do. An average performance would have yielded a 30+ point victory. The fact that Syracuse lost the game from the 3 minute mark of the first half on (when average = blowout) shows you just how terribly they played.


Individual performances:

Howard - Everybody has bad days. Its fine to have a bad game. Howard's performance was something far worse than bad. It was unacceptable. We really can't afford to have him play that bad ever again.

Battle - Scored 22 points while shooting 50% from the field (minus one missed dunk) and playing great D. On paper it looks like a wonderful game, but I can't help feeling like he could have played better. On some level that's a compliment to Battle. I'm already expecting greatness. But I have to remember that he is new at being "the man." Boeheim will often times try to make things easier for guys like this by narrowing their focus. Just get the points we need you to get, don't worry about doing it all. As Battle gets more experienced his responsibilities will increase. Still, with Howard struggling so much, I would have liked to see Battle handle the playmaking more, and do a better job of it than he did. On the plus side I didn't notice him grabbing for his back at any point in the game, for the first time since the injury.

Brissett - His games have pretty much all been carbon copies of each other up to this point, and that's not a bad thing. Just know this game is the floor, not the ceiling. The breakout will come eventually. Its just a waiting game at this point.

Moyer - You've got to be happy for Moyer, and hope that this game leads to more inspired play from him, but we should also acknowledge that most of Moyer's points came from exploiting UConn's complete lack rebounding, rim protection, and physicality under the basket. This was not a performance that's repeatable against better teams. While he probably won't be scoring 18 points in ACC play, I do think that kind of aggression can lead to more regular 6-10 point performances which will make a big difference for us.

Chukwu - He got the reputation of a bad free throw shooter from a very small sample size (he missed his first 8 free throws or something like that). Is it possible that he's actually a pretty solid free throw shooter for a big guy? We don't know for sure yet, but his game seems to be expanding by the day.

Washington - Should he have played more given how much Howard was struggling? If this was the national championship, then the answer is definitely yes. But Boeheim was probably thinking long term and decided that Howard needs to learn how to work though games like this one. I tend to trust his judgment on things like this. Washington will get plenty of minutes against Colgate.

Dolezaj - Hopefully he learns something from Moyer's performance. Dolezaj is taller than Moyer and a better athlete. He's actually better suited to put up a performance like the one Moyer had than Moyer himself is. I have a number in mind, and that number is 4. If Dolezaj is taking four shots or more I'm happy regardless of the outcome. If Dolezaj is taking less than 4 shots I'm not happy. He does deserves a pass in this game however seeing as Moyer was scoring like crazy and Dolezaj was mostly playing out of position as a center. My only small gripe is that Dolezaj had the ball with nobody between him and the basket a couple times towards the end when UConn pressed and he chose to hold the ball up rather than driving to the basket and scoring or drawing a foul.

Sidibe - There are 10 days between now and the Georgetown game. I don't care if he plays against Colgate. I'm hoping he looks like a new man against Georgetown because he makes us better, though I will say this, Dolezaj is a pretty decent rim protector for a skinny forward. Syracuse has a nice stretch off between now and Georgetown with only the Colgate game (which is a glorified practice) between, and the break couldn't come at a better time. This team is beat up and needs some time to lick its wounds.

You look at those highlights and half of UConn's threes were on lackluster rotations by Howard. That was a "head up his butt" game all around.

 

[General20]

Only thing I'll differ on is -
Marek pulled the ball back out, because we were trying to run clock at the end of the game, like JB has done since the dawn of time.
Yes, he may have gotten to the hoop, and/or gotten fouled doing so had he driven it - but that stops the clock, and if he blows that opportunity somehow, JB would absolutely flip his lid and chew him a new one.

Spot on everywhere else.
Hope we don't see Dib at all against the 'Gate, so he can rest up for the Hoyas.
Beyond psyched for Matty Nice, he now has a blueprint for what he can do to help the team moving forward.

You are definitely right about Dolezaj's thinking. I just disagree, given the time and score we were better off taking the guaranteed points.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

You look at those highlights and half of UConn's threes were on lackluster rotations by Howard. That was a "head up his butt" game all around.

I saw two made threes that Howard could have contested better. The first one (1:13 of the video) on the wing where he just watched is indefensible and I'm sure he will get reamed for that. Not sure about the other one though, and I'd like to get some conversation going about that. PG is standing a few feet behind the three line at the top of the key dead on to the basket with Frank closest to him. This is about 1:51 of the video. Makes a pass to the big at the foul line. Big turns slightly, Frank starts to move toward a potential shooter on the three line - foul line extended. Battle stands stock still - doesn't move to the big nor does he move toward the PG/original passer. Big passes back to the guy at the top of the key, who knocks down the three, with a hand in his face from Frank.

My question is, whose responsibility actually is that? I'll post the times in the vid in a minute. = DONE

 

[reedny]

You're right, if I ran basketball any player that flopped in an attempt to trick the official into giving him a call would receive a technical, and a huge emphisis would be placed on officials detecting illegal contact without the aid of exaggerated antics by the offensive player.

Unfortunately we dont live in that world, and if you cant shoot because a defender is in your face, and you cant get to the basket because he's illegally holding or bumping you, then you have to do what it takes to make sure the official sees it and makes the call.

Officiating in college is just strange. They called the bigs tight (one on Moyer backing up with his hands in the air), but let Anderson crawl up Howard's jersey the whole game? Makes no sense, per usual.

I have to say I was relieved to beat such a bitter rival, but disappointed that we didn't step on their neck in the first half. At the same time, I was stoked for MM. I mean, the kid has worked hard. He hustled, got some tip-jams and even hit a couple jumpers. Couldn't be happier for him. I think this game was closer to his ceiling than his floor. But I'd be content with 10 minutes of hustle points and rebounds (6-8 ppg, 5 rbg).

Back to Frank, wow. This game highlights some usage questions I have about him. At this point, I'm wondering why the staff is relying on him so heavily as a PG rather than a 2. He's not handling heavy ball pressure, is not shooting it well from 3 (29%), his defense is getting worse and he's turning it over at 4+ per game. Yes, Anderson bodied him and he won't always be guarded that physically. But he has to be able to play through contact. Maybe it's because of his minutes (NRFPT backup), but he just looks uncomfortable and I think too much point is taking a toll. He's not closing out (giving up wide open 3's). Why not let Tyus take some of the PG load? At a minimum, he can bring the ball up and run the offense for periods of time to give Frank a break. He's certainly capable. The question is, will it adversely affect Tyus' production.

(btw, thx as always for a stimulating write-up. We're all hooked now).

 

[Cusefan0307]

Officiating in college is just strange. They called the bigs tight (one on Moyer backing up with his hands in the air), but let Anderson drape himself all over Howard. ? Makes no sense, per usual.

I have to say I was relieved to beat such a bitter rival, but disappointed that we didn't step on their neck in the first half. I was also stoked for MM. I mean, the kid has worked hard. He hustled, got some tip-jams and even hit a couple jumpers. Couldn't be happier for him. I do think that's this game was closer to his ceiling than his floor. But I'd be happy if he could give us 10 minutes of hustle points and rebounds (6-8 ppg, 5 rbg).

Back to Frank, wow. This game highlights some usage questions I have about him. At this point, I'm wondering why the staff is relying on him so heavily as a PG rather than a 2. He's not handling heavy ball pressure, is not shooting it well from 3 (29%), his defense is getting worse and he's turning it over a 4+ per game. Yes, Anderson bodied him and he won't always be guarded that physically. But he has to be able to play through contact. Instead, he just looks uncomfortable and I think too much point is taking a toll. He's on the floor nearly the whole game and he's not closing out (giving up wide open 3's). Why not let Tyus take more of the PG load?

(btw, thx as always for a stimulating write-up. We're all hooked now).

You realize before yesterday’s abomination of a game his stats were pretty good right? Why is this so hard for the board to understand. It’s like Dungey 4 interception and 35% completion game against Miami.

 

[reedny]

You realize before yesterday’s abomination of a game his stats were pretty good right? Why is this so hard for the board to understand. It’s like Dungey 4 interception and 35% completion game against Miami.

Last night, he went 1-10 from the field, had 9 turnovers and only 5 points in almost 40 minutes. Against UM, he went 1-7 from 3 and had 4 TO's, along with several failed close-outs on Huerter. He was little steadier against KU (6-14, 4 TO's), and he's been a much better player this year. However, given his history and after last night, I don't think it's panicking to ask if Tyus Battle should share some of the PG duties in games like this? Bring the ball up? Run the offense a little ... at least until (if) Washington's up to the task. Howard just looks overworked and overwhelmed out there.

 

[newmexicuse]

You realize before yesterday’s abomination of a game his stats were pretty good right? Why is this so hard for the board to understand. It’s like Dungey 4 interception and 35% completion game against Miami.

Board has a hard time because of Frank's history.

Dungey just had a bad game.

Frank has a history of playing poorly against better opponents, and the fact that UConn is lousy is making everybody nervous.

Team badly needs "good" Frank out there and he is yet to prove he can play well against better opponents.

Just when everybody thinks he has turned the corner...

 

[OrangeinBoston]

A little rough on them in my opinion. This is early on for a young group that still has to learn to play consistently and mesh better as a team.

There are a lot of fine moving parts on this team. Now with Moyer's super performance, pretty much all of them (including Frank believe it or not) have demonstrated that they can play pretty darn well. Now, they have to do that night in and night out, understanding that somebody may still have a rough game from time to time.

More importantly, they need to run their offense better - and yes, that does in large part depend on Frank sucking it up against the grabbers and pullers he'll surely run into (did someone mention Georgetown?), and play better 3 point defense out on the perimeter so somebody like that guy from Kansas doesn't go off for a career night.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Last night, he went 1-10 from the field, had 5 points and 9 turnovers in almost 40 minutes. Against UM, he went 1-7 from 3 and had 4 TO's, along with several failed close-outs on Huerter. He was little steadier against KU (6-14, 4 TO's), and he's been a much better player this year. However, given his history and after last night, I don't think it's panicking to ask if Tyus Battle should share some of the PG duties in games like this? Bring the ball up? Run the offense a little ... at least until (if) Washington's up to the task. Howard just looks overworked and overwhelmed out there.

Yeah, the failed close outs on Huerter comment kind of pisses me off. A bunch of those Tyus had the same exact opportunities, but we aren't talking about that. Tyus has lazy moments on defense but there is NEVER a discussion of his mental health or stability.

Not meant as an attack on you Reed, just a general annoyance today. You just expressed it most recently.

 

[reedny]

Yeah, the failed close outs on Huerter kind of pisses me off. A bunch of those Tyus had the same exact opportunities, but we aren't talking about that. Tyus has lazy moments on defense but there is NEVER a discussion of his mental health or stability.

Don't get me wrong, FH's playing much better this year. He's a capable PG, and we need him to play well. All I'm saying is that given the minutes he's playing and where he is on the developmental curve (much bigger roll after struggling), it wouldn't hurt to have Tyus pitch in on some of the point duties from time to time ... bring the ball up, run the offense, etc. I think Frank's defense would improve along with his outside shot without the constant ball pressure.

 

[CuseFaninVT]

Don't get me wrong, FH's playing much better this year. He's a capable PG, and we need him to play well. All I'm saying is that given the minutes he's playing and where he is on the developmental curve (much bigger roll after struggling), it wouldn't hurt to have Tyus pitch in on some of the point duties from time to time ... bring the ball up, run the offense, etc. I think Frank's defense would improve along with his outside shot.

I don't necessarily disagree about spreading the wealth.

I also would like to see the refs call it when Frank gets fouled. That one 'assist' he had to battle after he got stripped was absolutely a foul on the defender. Raked Frank's arms.

 

[RF2044]

What's amazing about Frank's epically poor performance in the context of last night's game is that the rest of the team managed to maintain a double figure lead throughout the majority of the game even with him being so subpar.

We got up by as many as 18, they'd cut it to 8 or 9, we'd stretch it back out the 14 / 15. Pretty amazing when one of arguably our top three guys didn't just lay an egg, he stunk the joint up.

If we'd gotten even an average performance from Frank, we would have steamrolled them by 25. Too bad.

 

[Orangezoo]

Great stuff as per usual General. Aside from the individual performances and our injury issues, one other thing stuck out to me in this game and that was I really felt we let a team dictate the game and how we played for the first time this year.

In every other game we essentially had the game playing out how we prefer, using our size and length to beat teams up on the boards in a blue collar kind of game. This also generated a lot of closer final scores but essentially we we're winning how we want to win. Even vs Kansas this was the same as we forced them to beat us from deep, which they did so and very efficiently.

Last night, the more physical and flat out awful basketball UConn brought to the game ended up being how both teams played. You could call it playing down to the competition, but it was more our guys just getting pulled into an undisciplined crappy basketball game vs forcing UConm to play how we wanted them to. I thought this had a lot to do with the game and how it played out. Pair that with there never being a sense UConn could win it, even though they kept in range and it just was such a bad game to watch overall.

 

[cliftonparksufan]

What's amazing about Frank's epically poor performance in the context of last night's game is that the rest of the team managed to maintain a double figure lead throughout the majority of the game even with him being so subpar.

Take Frank out of the equation and the team shot 21 out of 41 with only six turnovers. Fortunately the rest of the guys held it together pretty well.

 

[littlereg]

What's amazing about Frank's epically poor performance in the context of last night's game is that the rest of the team managed to maintain a double figure lead throughout the majority of the game even with him being so subpar.

We got up by as many as 18, they'd cut it to 8 or 9, we'd stretch it back out the 14 / 15. Pretty amazing when one of arguably our top three guys didn't just lay an egg, he stunk the joint up.

If we'd gotten even an average performance from Frank, we would have steamrolled them by 25. Too bad.

This was one of my biggest takeaways from the game as well. We won by 9, and kept s double digit lead with our point guard and probably our second most important player going 1-10 with 9 turnovers. That’s a huge win in my eyes.

 

[HoustonCuse]

You are definitely right about Dolezaj's thinking. I just disagree, given the time and score we were better off taking the guaranteed points.

Especially since on at least one occasion of doing that, the result was Battle jacking an ill advised 3 about 7 seconds later. Luckily I believe this is the one Dolezaj then tipped back out to him and he fed Brissett for a dunk, but I was scratching my head as to why we were "trying to kill clock" when MD has an open dunk and then 7 seconds later jacking 3 pointers.

 

[FrancoPizza]

This game also reaffirms that we are still not a good transition team. We continue to pass up multiple fast break opportunities when we have numbers on a defensive rebound. The joke used to be that we can’t run because we can’t board but that excuse doesn’t fly anymore. We need to stop saying it’s a personnel or talent issue. I seriously wonder if JB has fallen in love with the slow tempo.

 

[newmexicuse]

This game also reaffirms that we are still not a good transition team. We continue to pass up multiple fast break opportunities when we have numbers on a defensive rebound. The joke used to be that we can’t run because we can’t board but that excuse doesn’t fly anymore. We need to stop saying it’s a personnel or talent issue. I seriously wonder if JB has fallen in love with the slow tempo.

The other piece to running is having guards with vision who can get down the court. That certainly was not frank last game.