Huskies SOTG

[Dr. Blackheart]

OMax for his rebounding and defense over Oso.

[Juan Anderson's Mixtape]

I'm going with Kam.  He made 3 big buckets to stop UConn's momentum.  Tied at 58, 65-62, and 73-70, Kam scored the next possession each time.

The last being a dagger 3 with a minute to go.  He was Mr. Big Shot tonight.

Oso and O-Max were both great, too.  HM for Sean Jones keeping us in the game in the first half.

[BM1090]

I would vote Kam so he gets on the board. Big shots in big moments.

But the right answer is probably Oso.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

1. O-Max. Brought scoring and some huge rebounds. More importantly, he absolutely erased Jordan Hawkins who had been averaging 17.2 points a game over the last 9 games. With him neutralized, UConn's offense couldn't keep up with ours

2. Kam. Keyed our run in the second half to take the lead. Had three steals creating opportunities for us. Was the only player who could consistently score on Clingan going 4/5 from 2. Made the beautiful alley oop lob to Oso for the play of the game. Supplied the dagger three.

3. Oso. We certainly don't win this game without him but Clingan ate his lunch on both sides of the ball. Clingian is going to do that to a lot of players over his time in college. Had some nice moments on Sanogo but I think the help D was the key to forcing those five turns.

[Autoengineer]

Oso.  Those Oso free throws were clutch at the end.  Hurley was smart fouling him as far as the stats go.  Although that one where the defender pretty much dragged Oso to the ground on the inbounds was a questionable non flagrant call. 

[mug644]

1. O-Max. Brought scoring and some huge rebounds. More importantly, he absolutely erased Jordan Hawkins who had been averaging 17.2 points a game over the last 9 games. With him neutralized, UConn's offense couldn't keep up with ours

TAMU, an OT question for you: why give that stat for the last 9 games for Hawkins? Without seeing his game-to-game numbers, that feels like a cherry-picked figure. That's half the season, but why not use the full season of their 18 games? Or, use just the 7 games they've played in the league? Without a "natural" starting point for the number of games, it seems like it could be one of those cases of 'manipulating' statistics to confirm a bias. Really, though, just curious how you landed at last 9 games?

[1SE]

Shaka

[MUDPT]

TAMU, an OT question for you: why give that stat for the last 9 games for Hawkins? Without seeing his game-to-game numbers, that feels like a cherry-picked figure. That's half the season, but why not use the full season of their 18 games? Or, use just the 7 games they've played in the league? Without a "natural" starting point for the number of games, it seems like it could be one of those cases of 'manipulating' statistics to confirm a bias. Really, though, just curious how you landed at last 9 games?

Hawkins and Jackson are legit NBA prospects. OMax was better than both last night.

[rocket surgeon]

damn, i was waiting for goose...but this is a tough one.  first off it was a real team effort. 

   sean hit some nice early shots to put some defensive attention on himself and his defense as always is annoying...for the other team

   kam was as patient as i've seen, and just like the cialis ad, when the moment was right, he came up BIG

   oso-well, he was solid, plus they've obviously been working on his free throws

   the big Omax-man is he active.  you cannot lose track of him

   tyler-they said they would rather he score than assist?  careful what they wished for-they got a little of both.  side note-following that real bad, but rare turnover late in the game-COMPOSURE

  under the radar guy, but so very important cogs-jop, stevie and ross, ben-couldn't do it without them

shaka was the quiet maestro.  only 11 turnovers to the #6?  we would had that in the first 10 minutes a few years ago

conclusion?  whatever goose says

   

[muwarrior69]

That was a team win. Pick one of five guys and there is solid argument.

So Shaka?

[rocket surgeon]

So Shaka?

  aww shoot, did goose say that?  i scanned the comments and must be too early in the morning but i did miss it-pretty solid argument though is right on.  i tried to make one for 8 of our guys plus the shocker!

shaka keeps this team composed among many other things, but you don't see panic.  panic kills many teams down the stretch.  this team is older than their ages due to shaka.

  btw-i like the new in bounds play-presents many options-it also showed shaka was not going to sit idly by with a previously poorly executed and predictable failing inbounds play-refreshing

[muwarrior69]

I was going to stay home and watch the game rather than go to choir practice at my church, but a little voice, my wife, said go. Looking at the replay of the game I realized that when we were down 11 we were practicing "We Shall Overcome" in celebration of MLK day.

So obviously the STOG has to be my wife, that is if we really can't decide.

[CTWarrior]

O-Max.  Defense and rebounding were huge.

Oso was imperative, but his counterparts did have more points and rebounds.  He was the only one who could defend the interior with much success, but that is because our reserve bigs cannot defend the interior at all.  Don't know if he deserves SOTG credit for that.

Otherwise, the Jones' are also both good choices.  Sean stabilized the game in the first half when it was getting away from us and Kam made several huge buckets in the second half.

I always want to say Kolek, but I think those 4 deserve it ahead of him.

Great team performance, so whoever you pick is fine.  During that 16-0 UConn run, I really thought we were just outmatched.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

TAMU, an OT question for you: why give that stat for the last 9 games for Hawkins? Without seeing his game-to-game numbers, that feels like a cherry-picked figure. That's half the season, but why not use the full season of their 18 games? Or, use just the 7 games they've played in the league? Without a "natural" starting point for the number of games, it seems like it could be one of those cases of 'manipulating' statistics to confirm a bias. Really, though, just curious how you landed at last 9 games?

Because he's been on a scoring tear for the last 9 games. It's not manipulating statistics,  it's articulating how long he has been scoring at this level.

[TVDirector]

OMax

[MU82]

I really could go with several players in this one, which is rare because one almost always stands out as obvious to me. I picked Oso earlier but after reading what several other Scoopers say I'm now leaning toward Kam. Or O-Max. Or maybe stay with Oso.

It's great having a "problem" like this!

IMHO, I didn't think Tyler had one of his better games. Announcers made a big deal out of "UConn could pay the price for making him a scorer," but the fact is he only scored 6 and he missed both 3 attempts. Eight assists were very nice, and he had a few other passes that led to FTs. But he also had 5 TOs, including that horrid one near the end. He was good, but he has set a very high bar for himself with his outstanding play this season.

[zcg2013]

Omax.

[mug644]

Because he's been on a scoring tear for the last 9 games. It's not manipulating statistics,  it's articulating how long he has been scoring at this level.

Accepted. I wasn't accusing you of such manipulation, though it could easily be inferred as such with my word choices. I respect and appreciate your statistical contributions and insights.

[Dr. Blackheart]

Because he's been on a scoring tear for the last 9 games. It's not manipulating statistics,  it's articulating how long he has been scoring at this level.

In addition, he was held out in early season games due to serious carryover concussion problems from last season. And, he sat most of ISU game with fouls. 

[JediWarrior]

Great to see the discussion, but it has to be Shaka.

UConn new we were going to double their bigs and we still rotated fast enough to deny easy perimeter shots.

We looked DEAD after their 14 point 1H run, but coach lit a fire under SJ and he helped spread the floor, and halt UConn's momentum.

He recognized when Gold would be effective amd pulled him as soon as he stopped.

MU gave different offensive looks in the 2H, opening lanes by drawing Clingan out, and allowing Kam to get rolling.

Shaka knows refs hate Hurley and he smooth talked his way to a foul advantage in the 2H.

Once we had a dominant position with less than 2M left he showed UConn a 2-3 zone to confuse them.

He ran a bizarre but effective inbound play when they pressed after traditional methods failed in previous games.

The players were great.  Shaka was a stud.

[TAMU, Knower of Ball]

Sean Jones definitely deserves an honorable mention. If the game was just the first half, he would have been the stud

[Warrior2008]

O Max.

[rgoode57]

This was a great total team effort. Every player made positive contributions. The sotg could be nearly any one of them. But, in my mind, the sotg was Shaka. His halftime adjustments and the way he substituted was masterful. I thought he really was the difference in the game.

[MU82]

Sean Jones definitely deserves an honorable mention. If the game was just the first half, he would have been the stud

Agree. I thought it was his best all-around game at Marquette, especially given the opponent and the stakes.

That make at the first-half buzzer was a big hoop, and he was all over the place on D like a freakin' pesty gnat!

[withoutbias]

damn, i was waiting for goose...but this is a tough one.  first off it was a real team effort. 

   sean hit some nice early shots to put some defensive attention on himself and his defense as always is annoying...for the other team

   kam was as patient as i've seen, and just like the cialis ad, when the moment was right, he came up BIG

   oso-well, he was solid, plus they've obviously been working on his free throws

   the big Omax-man is he active.  you cannot lose track of him

   tyler-they said they would rather he score than assist?  careful what they wished for-they got a little of both.  side note-following that real bad, but rare turnover late in the game-COMPOSURE

  under the radar guy, but so very important cogs-jop, stevie and ross, ben-couldn't do it without them

shaka was the quiet maestro.  only 11 turnovers to the #6?  we would had that in the first 10 minutes a few years ago

conclusion?  whatever goose says

  aww shoot, did goose say that?  i scanned the comments and must be too early in the morning but i did miss it-pretty solid argument though is right on.  i tried to make one for 8 of our guys plus the shocker!

shaka keeps this team composed among many other things, but you don't see panic.  panic kills many teams down the stretch.  this team is older than their ages due to shaka.

  btw-i like the new in bounds play-presents many options-it also showed shaka was not going to sit idly by with a previously poorly executed and predictable failing inbounds play-refreshing

Honest question.  Do you ever make a single post without some kind of sexual reference?  You need to rub one out every once in a while my man.