UConn Pre-Game Thread

[IUFLA]

Probable starter's stat comparison...I included both X and Gabe...

 

Edited November 18, 2023 by IUFLA

[JJack]

46 minutes ago, Hoosier4Life53 said:

Karl Ravech I can handle, but Jay Williams is almost as bad Jay Bilas. 😩

 

11 hours ago, NCHoosier32 said:

i don't bet, but man!  the line is 7.5!?  good Lord i'd take UConn.   

I do bet.   +7.5 seems too good to be true.  In my experiences if the line seems too good it usually means Vegas knows something we don't. 

[IUFLA]

A look behind enemy lines

The scouting report "Hey Adrien!" provides is good stuff...

[Euroclydon]

16 hours ago, IUFLA said:

Whether or not it would continue wasn't the statement...

I'd say to be 17th in the nation in FG% vs any schedule shows an offense that works for good shots and makes them...

I don't think you can rely on that stat after playing three teams that haven't won a game. I'm referring to early shot clock decisions where no offense was run, and poor attempts that allow the other team to erase double digit leads. We'll keep an eye on that stat as the season goes along.

[IUFLA]

4 minutes ago, Euroclydon said:

I don't think you can rely on that stat after playing three teams that haven't won a game. I'm referring to early shot clock decisions where no offense was run, and poor attempts that allow the other team to erase double digit leads. We'll keep an eye on that stat as the season goes along.

There are a lot of stats we can't go by this early...My own personal opinion is winning margin against subpar teams when you're trying to get your rotations and chemistry down is one of them...Running up the score by keeping your starters in for major minutes against the weaker pre-conference opponents doesn't make any sense to me at all...

Am I concerned with our defense? Sure I am...But that starts with the backcourt starters...It isn't frontcourt guys that have been lighting us up...I don't think the communication from the experienced to the new guys has been what it should be...

Your opinion that we haven't seen good offense on display in my view wasn't accurate...While I don't expect us to shoot 64% from the field for the year, I do think we'll be one of the better FG% teams...we were last year (12th nationally in overall FG%)...It's kind of a trait of Mike Woodson teams...

We had spurts of both good (majority) and bad shot selection...It would be interesting to see what our average shot clock time for putting up a shot is...Just watching, I'd say the majority of the time we use most of it...

[KoB2011]

1 hour ago, Euroclydon said:

I don't think you can rely on that stat after playing three teams that haven't won a game. I'm referring to early shot clock decisions where no offense was run, and poor attempts that allow the other team to erase double digit leads. We'll keep an eye on that stat as the season goes along.

I would expect us to have a highly ranked FG% all year. We rarely shoot threes and do have good inside scorers. 

[KoB2011]

54 minutes ago, IUFLA said:

My own personal opinion is winning margin against subpar teams when you're trying to get your rotations and chemistry down is one of them...Running up the score by keeping your starters in for major minutes against the weaker pre-conference opponents doesn't make any sense to me at all...

We have had to play our starters a lot to win, not just run up the score.

I get what you’re saying about other teams running up the score, but we have had to play our guys a lot to just win against weaker competition.

I would say we should all be concerned about our perimeter defense, rebounding, and three point shooting at this point. They’re all somewhat correctable issues, but if we don’t this could be a long season. 

[IUFLA]

25 minutes ago, KoB2011 said:

We have had to play our starters a lot to win, not just run up the score.

I get what you’re saying about other teams running up the score, but we have had to play our guys a lot to just win against weaker competition.

I would say we should all be concerned about our perimeter defense, rebounding, and three point shooting at this point. They’re all somewhat correctable issues, but if we don’t this could be a long season. 

I don't necessarily agree... I'm pretty sure the rotation won't be 10 players when it gets down to, in the words of our coach, "nut cuttin' time." Yet some people complain about "mass substitutions." 

And, as I said, sure I have concerns, but I'm not ready to shovel dirt on us just yet... Some people tried that after the first Penn State game last year... If you go back and read that, according to some we were dead and buried... I guess they decided to get a jump on things this year 🙂

Anyway, not a big deal... All speculation at this point. We'll have a better gauge on where we are after Monday night... 

[BGleas]

5 minutes ago, IUFLA said:

I don't necessarily agree... I'm pretty sure the rotation won't be 10 players when it gets down to, in the words of our coach, "nut cuttin' time." Yet some people complain about "mass substitutions." 

And, as I said, sure I have concerns, but I'm not ready to shovel dirt on us just yet... Some people tried that after the first Penn State game last year... If you go back and read that, according to some we were dead and buried... I guess they decided to get a jump on things this year 🙂

Anyway, not a big deal... All speculation at this point. We'll have a better gauge on where we are after Monday night... 

But it's not like our starters have been getting out to 20 points leads and then Woodson has been taking his foot off the gas and the bench has given up those big leads.

As @KoB2011 said, we've had to play the starters late in games just to hang on for these wins. 

I understand the picture you're painting or the point you're making, but IMO it doesn't really apply to what has been happening so far. 

We've struggled across the board to win these games. 

[IUFLA]

3 minutes ago, BGleas said:

But it's not like our starters have been getting out to 20 points leads and then Woodson has been taking his foot off the gas and the bench has given up those big leads.

As @KoB2011 said, we've had to play the starters late in games just to hang on for these wins. 

I understand the picture you're painting or the point you're making, but IMO it doesn't really apply to what has been happening so far. 

We've struggled across the board to win these games. 

Mike Woodson himself said we haven't put together a full game yet... And he's right. We've had periods where we looked really good, and others where we haven't... The farther we go on, the more consistent I expect us to be...

Like I said, all speculation at this point... Let's see how these next 2 games pan out and then reassess..

 

[5fouls]

43 minutes ago, KoB2011 said:

We have had to play our starters a lot to win, not just run up the score.

I get what you’re saying about other teams running up the score, but we have had to play our guys a lot to just win against weaker competition.

I would say we should all be concerned about our perimeter defense, rebounding, and three point shooting at this point. They’re all somewhat correctable issues, but if we don’t this could be a long season. 

I'm not sure 3-point shooting is correctable.  Can we shoot more?  Sure.  Can we be a 'good' 3-point shooting team.  I'm not so sure.  

I'm fairly comfortable in stating Mgbako is not Jay Edwards. Cupps does not look like Jordan Hulls.  Reneau isn't Watford.  No Alford, Roth, or Zeisloft out there either.

[BGleas]

1 minute ago, 5fouls said:

I'm not sure 3-point shooting is correctable.  Can we shoot more?  Sure.  Can we be a 'good' 3-point shooting team.  I'm not so sure.  

I'm fairly comfortable in stating Mgbako is not Jay Edwards. Cupps does not look like Jordan Hulls.  Reneau isn't Watford.  No Alford, Roth, or Zeisloft out there either.

I think we have the talent to be a respectable 3pt shooting team. Good enough to at least make it a weapon and not such a massive negative. 

XJ and Galloway are respectable shooters. Cupps I think will find his stroke with some volume. Mgbako is a really good shooter. Ware and Reneau can both hit. 

We have enough to make it a weapon. Nobody is saying that we should lead the nation in attempts or anything, but it's also absurd that we're like +300 in 3pt shooting. 

Part of this is the system creating confidence. Right now the 3pt shot is so de-emphasized that every miss feels like a huge deal. 

But, if focused on we have enough to where we should at least be middle of the pack in D1. 

[Hoosier4Life53]

5 minutes ago, 5fouls said:

I'm not sure 3-point shooting is correctable.  Can we shoot more?  Sure.  Can we be a 'good' 3-point shooting team.  I'm not so sure.  

I'm fairly comfortable in stating Mgbako is not Jay Edwards. Cupps does not look like Jordan Hulls.  Reneau isn't Watford.  No Alford, Roth, or Zeisloft out there either.

Agree, we just don’t have game changing 3 pt shooters, although I think Mgbako could become one over time.

[BGleas]

9 minutes ago, IUFLA said:

Mike Woodson himself said we haven't put together a full game yet... And he's right. We've had periods where we looked really good, and others where we haven't... The farther we go on, the more consistent I expect us to be...

Like I said, all speculation at this point... Let's see how these next 2 games pan out and then reassess..

 

I do agree that with a shorter rotation we'd be seeing more consistent play. No doubt. But I'd guess these other teams that are "running up the score" are doing so because their starters are taking care of business. 

Ours haven't. 

But to your point, I think the data has shown that a lot of our big defensive laspses have come with a few of the bench guys in and that those minutes 'should' be shorter on Sunday. 

Fingers crossed, but I'm not too optimistic about this game. 

[go_iu_bb]

29 minutes ago, BGleas said:

Cupps I think will find his stroke with some volume.

Can you clarify this statement? Cupps is shooting 33.3% from 3 (2/6) which isn't great but also isn't terrible. So do you mean that that percentage will go up as he shoots more or that he'll start shooting at a higher volume? If it's the latter, I very much doubt that. He's not a scoring point. If it's the former, what do you think he'll level out at? High 30s/low 40s?

[BGleas]

7 minutes ago, go_iu_bb said:

Can you clarify this statement? Cupps is shooting 33.3% from 3 (2/6) which isn't great but also isn't terrible. So do you mean that that percentage will go up as he shoots more or that he'll start shooting at a higher volume? If it's the latter, I very much doubt that. He's not a scoring point. If it's the former, what do you think he'll level out at? High 30s/low 40s?

Was just kind of going off memory of the first 5 games. He's not really looked for his shot and despite the numbers it's been a bit inconsistent. 

He looks comfortable on the court for sure, but not necessarily comfortable with when he should look to shoot vs not. 

Wasn't really commenting on his current percentages, just that I expect him to be a greater weapon as a shooter as he gets more comfortable and some volume increases. 

[go_iu_bb]

3 minutes ago, BGleas said:

Was just kind of going off memory of the first 5 games. He's not really looked for his shot and despite the numbers it's been a bit inconsistent. 

He looks comfortable on the court for sure, but not necessarily comfortable with when he should look to shoot vs not. 

Wasn't really commenting on his current percentages, just that I expect him to be a greater weapon as a shooter as he gets more comfortable and some volume increases. 

I think he's more of a pass first type PG so I wouldn't be surprised if that doesn't change, at least this year. Like I said, he's not really a scoring PG.

[Purdue7]

So Leal can’t play at all?

 

[BGleas]

5 minutes ago, go_iu_bb said:

I think he's more of a pass first type PG so I wouldn't be surprised if that doesn't change, at least this year. Like I said, he's not really a scoring PG.

I'm not expecting him to be Allen Iverson or anything. But I think he's a guy that as he develops will be a starting point guard and average around 10-12ppg while running the show. 

A better offensive (shooting, etc.), slightly less defensive version of Aaron Craft. 

This season, I expect him to get more comfortable offensively. If our bigs would ever kick it out of the double, I expect he can be a threat to shoot and one you have to respect. 

Problem right now is that you don't have to respect any of our shooters because we basically don't shoot. 

[5fouls]

40 minutes ago, BGleas said:

I'm not expecting him to be Allen Iverson or anything.

True. My understanding is Gabe likes to practice.  

[Inequality]

Cupps can flat out play, and shoot. I think we will see more scoring from him as he gets comfortable.

To me, he clearly stands out as someone that I would want to be one of the main high volume 3pt shooters on this roster. I‘m not sure he’s a Kyle Guy type threat around the perimeter but I do see that type of potential and hopefully it doesn’t take till year 4 to find it.

[DWB]

Sorry, but I don't get all you guys wanting us to shoot more 3's, when we don't have a knock down shooter. (at least one that is proven yet)

Seems to me the 1st rule of coaching is "Play to your strengths". 3 pt shooting isn't one of our strengths. It's not as bad as some think, but it isn't our first go-to when there is a transition fast break. (like it was when Alford was there)

A missed 3 pointer often turns into a fast break opportunity for the defense. It's almost like a turnover or steal.

IF...we can get our 3 pt defense in order, and keep the opposition to <30% on their 3's, we'll be fine.

[BGleas]

3 minutes ago, DWB said:

Sorry, but I don't get all you guys wanting us to shoot more 3's, when we don't have a knock down shooter. (at least one that is proven yet)

Seems to me the 1st rule of coaching is "Play to your strengths". 3 pt shooting isn't one of our strengths. It's not as bad as some think, but it isn't our first go-to when there is a transition fast break. (like it was when Alford was there)

A missed 3 pointer often turns into a fast break opportunity for the defense. It's almost like a turnover or steal.

IF...we can get our 3 pt defense in order, and keep the opposition to <30% on their 3's, we'll be fine.

Because Reneau and Ware aren't going to be nearly as efficient for the long haul when the competition increases. 

We can't keep getting absolutely destroyed at the 3pt line and win. It isn't sustainable over the long haul. 

We need to get easier shots for our guards and wings. Both XJ and Galloway can get to the rim and score but right now the lane is too clogged because we're playing two bigs in the paint (key part being in the paint). 

Nobody is saying we should lead the country in 3 PTA's. Nobody is even saying we should even be in the top 50 or even 100 in the country in 3 PTA's. 

But being sub-300 in the country will result in losing basketball. 

We have enough guys that can shoot (XJ, Galloway, MM, Cupps, Ware and Reneau) that we can absolutely increase the volume to a beneficial point. 

Mgbako should he taking 2-3 of these a game, to go along with 2-3 more in the halfcourt. 

 

[Inequality]

If we have no 3pt game, no shooters, we will get lit up consistently by good teams. It’s been a big deal in the NCAA since 1986.

Here is an interesting fact about the greatest player to ever play the game. I’ll link the article as well. 

“Michael Jordan is a perfect example of that. He played college basketball at North Carolina without a 3-point line. In his rookie season with the Chicago Bulls, he was 9-for-52 from 3-point range. He never shot better than 20 percent from long range until his fifth season in the NBA. But by the time his remarkable tenure with the Bulls wrapped up, he was consistently shooting better than 35 percent from 3-point range.”

https://www.usab.com/news/2014/01/history-of-the-3-pointer

Shooters need reps. Shooters also take pressure away from the paint. Last season, opposing teams just had to focus mainly on TJD and they had us by the balls.

[IU Scott]

I still don't know why if a team ran an offense like we did in the 80's and 90's wouldn't work today. We didn't rely on 3's but still averaged over 80 a game. I don't buy that the motion offense couldn't work because of the 30 second clock. If you watched those games you would see a team who shot the ball within the first 15 seconds of the possession.  The object is to score points so who cares how we score those points. Teams today who shoots a lot of 3's still don't average 80 points a game because teams play to slow today.  If coaches were willing to let their players play with freedom and not over manage the game we might see better offense.