Everyone wants what they don't have

[mr.MUskie]

From the UCONN forum:

hayward and butler can go past our bigs at will. this forces someone to help which in turn gives up an open 3. we have to go small. having the extra big in there is a detriment b/c it is a weakness on defense and offense.


We keep saying we need some bigs, those with bigs want to go small.

[HoopsMalone]

UConn has the option to go small or big.  MU does not have the option to go big.  UConn killed us on the boards and blocking shots and it would be really nice to have some of that.

But you are right, on some level we all dwell on what we don't have rather than what we do.

[MR.HAYWARD]

uconn's issue this year is there bigs are not as experienced as they have been in the past so yes in some cases it may be better for them to take out a young big but what are they going to do then put in a freshman guard?  they are young.

[GGGG]

They're also just not all that smart.  They had 16 turnovers...we had 3.  That's why we won.

[4everwarriors]

Dyson's the future NBA dude who bit on DJO's ballfake for the 3 freethrows at the end. Glad we won (due to lack of turnovers) especially with all the boards and blocked shots UCONN had.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Dyson's the future NBA dude who bit on DJO's ballfake for the 3 freethrows at the end. Glad we won (due to lack of turnovers) especially with all the boards and blocked shots UCONN had.

UCONN did us a big favor at the end.  Seemed they could have milked the clock a bit more rather than take that shot, especially with the game tied.  Good for us, bad for them.

[CTWarrior]

They're also just not all that smart.  They had 16 turnovers...we had 3.  That's why we won.

I've watched UConn all year.  To say they are "not smart" is an understatement.  Lots of athletic ability, not a lot of hoops IQ.  I figured they would overwhelm us with their athleticism.  Great win for us.

[4everwarriors]

Today's game confused me. Is it a bigman's game or a guard's game?

[ChicosBailBonds]

Today's game confused me. Is it a bigman's game or a guard's game?

Looked to me like the team with better guards won.  

[4everwarriors]

Not for sure on that, JD. Dyson and Walker figure to be playing in the Association. Plus the winning basket was scored by our bigman on the court.

[ChicosBailBonds]

Not for sure on that, JD. Dyson and Walker figure to be playing in the Association. Plus the winning basket was scored by our bigman on the court.

Yes, but the overall team makeup, I'm sure you would agree, is quite different.  UCONN leads the nation in blocks, something they have done 8 straight years and shooting for a 9th.

They are an inside team, shoot very rarely from 3 point land.  We are the polar opposite.  Yes, a "big" made the winning basket but we still took 24 three pointers.  UCONN took six.   UCONN out rebounded us 41 to 18.

We basically won by having way more possessions.  63 for us, 49 for them.  Plus we hit from behind the arc.  We outscored them 27 to 9 from beyond the arc.  

And the key stat...only 3 turnovers for us, because guards take care of the ball better than big oofs.   

[mr.MUskie]

Looked to me like the team with better guards won.  

The UCONN board is talking about the trend of teams going to 3 or even 4 guards.  They were really impressed with our ball handling.
From a 2000+ poster:
I marveled (with envy) at Marquette passing the ball around the perimeter 4, 5, or more times on many possessions leading to a 'good' shot in their half court sets.  Conversely we have the ball and Kemba or Jerome seemed to dribble for about 20-25 seconds then attempt to shoot or pass with other players standing around watching to see what our guards are going to do.  It seemed somewhat sad to watch our offensive performance in the half court.  Some say we run pro-sets but it was obvious that we weren't running it right.  Only 2 people at most seem to touch the ball during our half court sets.

[4everwarriors]

Yes, but the overall team makeup, I'm sure you would agree, is quite different. < UCONN leads the nation in blocks, something they have done 8 straight years and shooting for a 9th.>

They are an inside team, shoot very rarely from 3 point land.  We are the polar opposite.  Yes, a "big" made the winning basket but we still took 24 three pointers.  UCONN took six.   UCONN out rebounded us 41 to 18.

We basically won by having way more possessions.  63 for us, 49 for them.  Plus we hit from behind the arc.  We outscored them 27 to 9 from beyond the arc. 

And the key stat...only 3 turnovers for us, because guards take care of the ball better than big oofs.   

And the MOP in the 2004 NCAA Championship won by UCONN was E. Okafor.

[pillardean]

Plus the winning basket was scored by our bigman on the court.

I don't want to join this argument but saying "our bigman" really doesn't mean a "big man" scored the bucket.  I see JFB as being a solid 3 or hybrid/wing type player capabable of putting the ball on the floor/shooting from perimeter as well as inside.  So using that as an example doesn't quite qualify the argument that a big man won the game and therefore is a big man's game (nor does it qualify the guard side, I guess it doesn't qualify anything-or does it?  .

[karavotsos]

From the UCONN forum:

hayward and butler can go past our bigs at will. this forces someone to help which in turn gives up an open 3. we have to go small. having the extra big in there is a detriment b/c it is a weakness on defense and offense.


We keep saying we need some bigs, those with bigs want to go small.

Seems to me more like he wanted their coaching staff to make some sort of adjustment to the specific mismatches that Zar and Butler created.  UConn's offense is: 1) transition, or 2) Walker or Dyson breaking someone down off the dribble and shooting.  None of their bigs is a post player, so they don't create mismatches on offense.  Their bigs- Edwards, specifically- got abused by Zar and Jimmy on the perimeter.  The most obvious solution is to try to pull the bigs and put perimeter defenders on Zar and Jimmy.  I don't think he's giving up on the idea of having big people on UConn.  He was simply frustrated by Zar's quick release and Jimmy's ability to drive and make good decisions.

[downtown85]

http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=342&f=2871&t=5548135

Basically the above is a thread on the UConn board talking about how they would be better off recruiting more guards and fewer bigs.  Considering they just got beat by MU, I can understand why the poster feels this way. 

Perhaps the Big East should allow trades...

[KipsBayEagle]

Wasn't there a whole thread on this already?