UConn - Is It Possible

[bearcat jeff]

Bearcats looked like a team expecting to lose for the last 5-6 minutes of the game. They won and I really think that's big from a mental stand point because this team was reeling mentally. Cash's shot wasn't falling but I thought it looked better today and was encouraged by that. If Parker can hit 60% fom the line UC has a double digit win. He looked like he didn't want to be on the line shooting. This team needed something, anything, to give them a confidence boost and they won. I don't care who they played that was huge with 2 games left.

 

[TheLivingLegend]

This team needed this one...Winning in a game like this hopefully will be a big time confidence boost.

Winning is better than losing. Monday will be a big time test and big opportunity.

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

This team needed this one...Winning in a game like this hopefully will be a big time confidence boost.

Winning is better than losing. Monday will be a big time test and big opportunity.

team definitely needed the win but will need to play much better to compete at Louisville. I do agree we have to eventually hit some shots consistently in a game and if we do we certainly can be anyone. Would love to see Cash heat back up heading down the stretch. Really think this win may have helped from a release of pressure stand point. This one gets us in tourney and now we can relax and play ball.

 

[UnivCincy]

A win is a win, regardless of ugly it may be. My thoughts:

The offense actually looked better. More movement, More open shots, yet so many missed opportunities at the line. Nyarsuk, despite having cinderblocks for hands, played well. He's not as strong as I'd like him to be, but he rebounded and kept the ball above his head on his put backs, which prevented his shots from being blocked. I also noticed a bit of an inside-out game today, the ball being passed to Nyarsuk or Mbodj, which opens up more shots for the guards. I wish, however, that Nyarsuk had a nice half-hook, or something. It would be difficult to stop with his length, and it would take even more pressure off of our guards.

Defensively, I think this was the first time in five games that the Cats looked interested on the defensive end. Switching from pressure to a 2-3 when the Cats were up 21-16, though, was a mistake. Obviously, the game couldn't have been put away then, but it allowed UConn to get some momentum going into the half.

Napier being sidelined was a huge bonus for us tonight, and when it was realized that he wouldn't play at all, this game became a must-win in my mind. It helps build confidence, swagger, or whatever you want to call it, and we need all of the help we can get in that department right now.

 

[UnivCincy]

Was at the game today. Ugly win but I'll take it. Tried our best to snatch defeat Fromm a basket the jaws of victory. Some observations.

1. Modj is very good defensively but can't make a basket if he was standing on the hoop.

2. Narsuk gives new meaning to the nickname Hands of Stone.

3. Gaines will never be anything more than a last alternative sub after 3 years in the program.

4. Cash is injured and missed a ton of wide open 3's

5. GeLawn will never be the starting pg at UC and he isn't even close to Cash defensively. Was beaten off the dribble by UCONN's guards at will.

6. At half time a girl out of the stands made more FT's than Parker in equal attempts.

7.Rubles should never be allowed to inbounds the ball in press situations. He almost cost us the game by being undecided and late delivering the ball.

8. Viewing in person it's very easy to see why scoring is down. Hand checking is allowed until 8 minute mark of 2nd Half. Guys are getting mugged at the 3pt line.

9.those wanting to see a new offense. Cats ran many nice cuts today. Missed FT's and wide open shots coupled with missing point blank lay ups.

10. In close games cats are forced to take long jumpers because they have no one except Parker who can get to the rim and when he does he gets fouled and can!t convert. If I was a guard on this team no way in close game situations do I put the ball in any post players hands on this team. They can't catch a cold.

1 & 2: Yep.

3. I don't understand why so many people are willing to give up on Gaines. He has shown improvement, and it may yet click for him. He is slower off of his feet when compared to last season, though, which is concerning.

4. Cash still doesn't have any lift in his legs, and he takes some ill-advised shots that are beyond his range at this moment. The 40-ft. jumper, followed by the long rebound and conversion at the other end, is a perfect example.

5. Guyn will play a lot of meaningful minutes at the PG spot going forward. He has a great looking shot, he's tough, and defensively, he gives great effort. He's only a sophomore, and I think he may start some next year, given the experience under his belt. What's more, like most of the other players, he's quick to defer to the Three Amigos, which won't be an issue next year.

6. Was she attractive? If so, I'm interested.

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

1 & 2: Yep.

3. I don't understand why so many people are willing to give up on Gaines. He has shown improvement, and it may yet click for him. He is slower off of his feet when compared to last season, though, which is concerning.

4. Cash still doesn't have any lift in his legs, and he takes some ill-advised shots that are beyond his range at this moment. The 40-ft. jumper, followed by the long rebound and conversion at the other end, is a perfect example.

5. Guyn will play a lot of meaningful minutes at the PG spot going forward. He has a great looking shot, he's tough, and defensively, he gives great effort. He's only a sophomore, and I think he may start some next year, given the experience under his belt. What's more, like most of the other players, he's quick to defer to the Three Amigos, which won't be an issue next year.

6. Was she attractive? If so, I'm interested.

hope your right about Guyn but watching him play today I have serious doubts.Bad fouls and very little ability to get to the hoop. As far as young lady shooting shots I'll answer it like all fathers of daughters should. she was lovely.

 

[david aka the TYZ]

A win is a win and I will take it. Parker killed us at the line today and Mbodj killed us inside. I've never seen a team as a whole just struggle to put points up like this one does. We can blame Mick all we want and I'm sure most will, but the bottom line is this team just sucks offensively. There is not one player on this team that can just man up and make a contested shot. The offense like it or not gets us shots and can get the ball inside for high percentage shots. We just can't execute. The refs were killing us today too. I've never seen a team with a lead get called for so many fouls and a team trying to make a comeback get called for only one (until they had to foul in last few seconds) to close out a game. I hope these refs follow the C7 schools. I'm glad Mick got T'd up, lit a fire in the players and the crowd. They made some complete horseshit calls today.

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

A win is a win and I will take it. Parker killed us at the line today and Mbodj killed us inside. I've never seen a team as a whole just struggle to put points up like this one does. We can blame Mick all we want and I'm sure most will, but the bottom line is this team just sucks offensively. There is not one player on this team that can just man up and make a contested shot. The offense like it or not gets us shots and can get the ball inside for high percentage shots. We just can't execute. The refs were killing us today too. I've never seen a team with a lead get called for so many fouls and a team trying to make a comeback get called for only one (until they had to foul in last few seconds) to close out a game. I hope these refs follow the C7 schools. I'm glad Mick got T'd up, lit a fire in the players and the crowd. They made some complete horseshit calls today.

Dave the game was certainly called tighter late in game but the reason we didn't get any calls was we settled for jumpers. Cash can't get to the rim on his knee and SK doesn't have the handle. Parker can get there but was 1-9 from the line. Your right about having lots of open looks today. We shot horrible is a understatement.

 

[UCalum08]

Was at the game today. Ugly win but I'll take it. Tried our best to snatch defeat Fromm a basket the jaws of victory. Some observations.

1. Modj is very good defensively but can't make a basket if he was standing on the hoop.

2. Narsuk gives new meaning to the nickname Hands of Stone.

3. Gaines will never be anything more than a last alternative sub after 3 years in the program.

4. Cash is injured and missed a ton of wide open 3's

5. GeLawn will never be the starting pg at UC and he isn't even close to Cash defensively. Was beaten off the dribble by UCONN's guards at will.

6. At half time a girl out of the stands made more FT's than Parker in equal attempts.

7.Rubles should never be allowed to inbounds the ball in press situations. He almost cost us the game by being undecided and late delivering the ball.

8. Viewing in person it's very easy to see why scoring is down. Hand checking is allowed until 8 minute mark of 2nd Half. Guys are getting mugged at the 3pt line.

9.those wanting to see a new offense. Cats ran many nice cuts today. Missed FT's and wide open shots coupled with missing point blank lay ups.

10. In close games cats are forced to take long jumpers because they have no one except Parker who can get to the rim and when he does he gets fouled and can!t convert. If I was a guard on this team no way in close game situations do I put the ball in any post players hands on this team. They can't catch a cold.

Awesome post and recap. Thought the exact same things in bold and No.6 makes me lmao but shouldn't lol.

 

[david aka the TYZ]

Dave the game was certainly called tighter late in game but the reason we didn't get any calls was we settled for jumpers. Cash can't get to the rim on his knee and SK doesn't have the handle. Parker can get there but was 1-9 from the line. Your right about having lots of open looks today. We shot horrible is a understatement.

The refs decided the game down the stretch. UConn down two, over the back call 90 feet from UConn's basket gave them two shots to tie the game. I'm sure it was a foul, didn't really see it, not really the point though. The refs made a point to call fouls on us repeatedly and didn't look to call anything on UConn. You telling me UConn didn't commit more than one foul the last five minutes of the game until they had to? Nyarsuk got called for foul after foul but on his shots down low body's were draped on him. I agree we need to be more aggressive to get fouls, but we got blocking fouls and hand checks called on us, not fouls on shots. There was enough of that going on the UConn side to call a few. UConn got to the line time after time down the stretch to creep back in. I honestly think the refs think Mbodj is a thug because of his incident in the X brawl last year and that affects the way they call the game. Refs know players and their tendencies and look for things to happen. That's why a coach can point something out to a ref and then they begin to look fot it if they so choose. The difference in refereeing from game to game is as random is whether or not a team's jump shots will fall. It should be consistent. And refs shouldn't decide the game. Period. If you choose which fouls to call all game long which Big East refs love to do then swallow your whistle at the end.

 

[UCalum08]

I thought this video would make people smile and bring back some great memories...or not so great haha But if you watch this whole video it would be nice to have a guy like JWill on this years team that could finish around the rim as well as have a decent shooting stroke.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Luxp4bxdnz4[/ame]

 

[CaptDale]

A win is a win and I will take it. Parker killed us at the line today and Mbodj killed us inside. I've never seen a team as a whole just struggle to put points up like this one does. We can blame Mick all we want and I'm sure most will, but the bottom line is this team just sucks offensively. There is not one player on this team that can just man up and make a contested shot. The offense like it or not gets us shots and can get the ball inside for high percentage shots. We just can't execute. The refs were killing us today too. I've never seen a team with a lead get called for so many fouls and a team trying to make a comeback get called for only one (until they had to foul in last few seconds) to close out a game. I hope these refs follow the C7 schools. I'm glad Mick got T'd up, lit a fire in the players and the crowd. They made some complete horseshit calls today.

Just finished watching a replay on ESPN3. Couldn't catch it in real time today. But I want to give Mick credit for a change. He mixed it up with more offensive sets. Too bad Nyarsuk greased his hands before the game
The D looked good and the team had a chance to run a little bit. Now all we need is to finish the fast breaks. SK did it by himself early, but Guyn threw up a prayer and Rubles is Rubles (no finesse). I'm not sure what happened to JaQuon. He played a great game (less FT's). You could see when ESPN did closeups on his face at the stripe (every time he got there); the poor kid has NO, ZERO, confidence. I don't know why. He shoots well from the field. He needs to see a hypnotist who tells him the basket is gigantic and that he can't miss. I feel sorry for him. BUT, he NEVER gives up. Plays his heart out every game. Would have been a double digit win except for Park and Boatright.
Thankfully we didn't have to contend with Napier, but a"W" is still a
"W"!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We couldn't shut down Daniels .........again. What are we going to do with Dieng? Siva will be Louisville's Boatright. We kept the Boat 4-13. Good defense by our guards. Keep up the good hustle !!!!!!

 

[WAITE HOYT 2]

Dave the game was certainly called tighter late in game but the reason we didn't get any calls was we settled for jumpers. Cash can't get to the rim on his knee and SK doesn't have the handle. Parker can get there but was 1-9 from the line. Your right about having lots of open looks today. We shot horrible is a understatement.

The refs decided the game down the stretch. UConn down two, over the back call 90 feet from UConn's basket gave them two shots to tie the game. I'm sure it was a foul, didn't really see it, not really the point though. The refs made a point to call fouls on us repeatedly and didn't look to call anything on UConn. You telling me UConn didn't commit more than one foul the last five minutes of the game until they had to? Nyarsuk got called for foul after foul but on his shots down low body's were draped on him. I agree we need to be more aggressive to get fouls, but we got blocking fouls and hand checks called on us, not fouls on shots. There was enough of that going on the UConn side to call a few. UConn got to the line time after time down the stretch to creep back in. I honestly think the refs think Mbodj is a thug because of his incident in the X brawl last year and that affects the way they call the game. Refs know players and their tendencies and look for things to happen. That's e why a coach can point something out to a ref and then they begin to look fot it if they so choose. The difference in refereeing from game to game is as random is whether or not a team's jump shots will fall. It should be consistent. And refs shouldn't decide the game. Period. If you choose which fouls to call all game long which Big East refs love to do then swallow your whistle at the end.

dave no one is a bigger homer than me but I have to say Its hard to get fouled shooting perimeter jump shots and that is what we settled for. UCONN'S was driving to the hoop. We were outside the arc running clock. I have no problem running clock but when the clock gets under 10 someone has to take the ball to the rim or make some foul shots. It bit us against GT and almost got us today. Parker can be that guy with Cash's knee barking but he can't make a Ft. I was hoping Rubles could help but he has lost his nerve.

 

[CaptDale]

I thought this video would make people smile and bring back some great memories...or not so great haha But if you watch this whole video it would be nice to have a guy like JWill on this years team that could finish around the rim as well as have a decent shooting stroke.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Luxp4bxdnz4

And he was only 6'6", I think!
Good video post, UCalum08.

 

[UCalum08]

And he was only 6'6", I think!
Good video post, UCalum08.

Yeah man, such an undersized big guy but could bang down low!

 

[MDW79]

I thought this video would make people smile and bring back some great memories...or not so great haha But if you watch this whole video it would be nice to have a guy like JWill on this years team that could finish around the rim as well as have a decent shooting stroke.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Luxp4bxdnz4

Thanks for the video. I always really liked Williamson. Actually, I really liked that team in general. Marcus Sikes, Jamaal Warren, Vaughn, Mike Williams. Those kids gave it everything they had.

 

[david aka the TYZ]

Just finished watching a replay on ESPN3. Couldn't catch it in real time today. But I want to give Mick credit for a change. He mixed it up with more offensive sets. Too bad Nyarsuk greased his hands before the game
The D looked good and the team had a chance to run a little bit. Now all we need is to finish the fast breaks. SK did it by himself early, but Guyn threw up a prayer and Rubles is Rubles (no finesse). I'm not sure what happened to JaQuon. He played a great game (less FT's). You could see when ESPN did closeups on his face at the stripe (every time he got there); the poor kid has NO, ZERO, confidence. I don't know why. He shoots well from the field. He needs to see a hypnotist who tells him the basket is gigantic and that he can't miss. I feel sorry for him. BUT, he NEVER gives up. Plays his heart out every game. Would have been a double digit win except for Park and Boatright. Thankfully we didn't have to contend with Napier, but a"W" is still a
"W"!!!!!!!!!!!!!
We couldn't shut down Daniels .........again. What are we going to do with Dieng? Siva will be Louisville's Boatright. We kept the Boat 4-13. Good defense by our guards. Keep up the good hustle !!!!!!

Glad someone mentioned that. 1-9 vs. 14-15. And the Cats still won. We love to blame Mick as if a better coach could make us shoot free throws better or suddenly make lay-ups. I'm not giving Mick a free pass but at some point the players on the floor have to make shots. And free throws and bunnies are the most glaring. Mick knows this team can't shoot and devises a gameplan to help them win despite that. It's frustrating but it has worked well. Hopefully next year's crop of players can put the ball in the hoop.

 

[Bearcat22]

Sanders chipped in some nice minutes today. I think his 9 points tied a season high for him.

 

[david aka the TYZ]

dave no one is a bigger homer than me but I have to say Its hard to get fouled shooting perimeter jump shots and that is what we settled for. UCONN'S was driving to the hoop. We were outside the arc running clock. I have no problem running clock but when the clock gets under 10 someone has to take the ball to the rim or make some foul shots. It bit us against GT and almost got us today. Parker can be that guy with Cash's knee barking but he can't make a Ft. I was hoping Rubles could help but he has lost his nerve.

I agree, but we penetrated some, we had guards riding us and we got shots inside that did not translate to fouls, but down the stretch UConn got to the line alot and many were due to fouls on the floor, not on shots. We did dribble the clock out some, but we made moves inside late in the clock, no fouls. Maybe UConn is just a superior defensive team (I say that with sarcasm). Rubles penetrated, Cash penetrated, Parker penetrated, they usually dribble in and then dribble back out, I think they do try to draw fouls but don't get the calls and know better than to throw up a bad shot when they aren't going to get the call. Everytime Boatwright put the ball on the floor he got to the line. I don't know, maybe I'm wrong. The foul tally just really stood out to me in the last seven or so minutes of the game.

 

[TheLongHaul]

I think about all I can say now about the game is a win is a win and I'll take it any way they'll come.