Sorry, no video tonight. Did you really want any?
UConn finishes sixth in the AAC. It will play South Florida in its opening-round game on Thursday around 8:30 p.m. at the XL Center, and must win four games in four nights to earn the automatic NCAA tourney bid.
Can this group pull that off? Stranger things have happened -- though I'd caution against any 2011 Big East tournament comparisons just yet.
Here's what Kevin Ollie, Rodney Purvis and a frustrated Ryan Boatright had to say after the loss to Temple:
OLLIE:
“Not the way we wanted to close out the season. I thought we played very, very well the first half, the tempo was going our way. The first two possessions of the second half, they got offensive rebounds. That really set the tone. We never could get our tempo back. Our guys never had the poise to box out, to run a solid play. Credit them. They did a great job, getting up in us, giving us fits.”
(difference in Temple's defense against Boatright in the second half)
“There were no adjustments. Ryan was playing outstanding, but it comes down to rebounding, playing aggressive. Of course, they probably started denying. But they were denying in the first half. Other guys have to step up and make plays, you can’t just rely on Ryan. You try to take him off the basketball, they were creating a couple of turnovers. I know they really trapped the screen and roll when he came off the screen and roll in the second half.”
(didn't Temple switch and put Jesse Morgan on Boatright in the latter half?)
“They all did a good job -- Morgan, Cummings. When he came off pick-and-rolls, they were trapping him.”
(daunting task of winning four straight)
“I told them they’ve got a game on Thursday, and we’ve got to be tougher, or we don’t go anywhere. I wasn’t even mentioning the NCAA tournament.”
PURVIS:
“I think they just out-toughed us. They were getting offensive rebounds. We’ve got to be able to hit and put a body on somebody, that goes for the whole entire team, from the guards to the bigs.”
(what did Temple do differently on Boatright in latter half?)
“He was killing them in the first half, that’s what most college teams are gonna do. One player’s killing ‘em, they’re gonna try to change up their assignment. That’s what they did.”
(what's changed since the SMU win?)
“I’m not sure, honestly. Just a lack of energy. We really weren’t together these last two games, like the SMU game ... That Memphis game, from the top to the bottom, we weren’t connected. This game, we just got out-toughed in the second half.”
“This should feel like a fresh start for us. Just gotta have a breath of new energy.”
(can Huskies win four games in four nights?)
“Yeah.”
BOATRIGHT:
(what did Temple do differently on him in second half?)
“Fouling.”
“They had two, three guys on me at all times. Every screen I came off, they blitzed it. Ball screens, they blitzed it. Their game plan was to take me out of the game, make somebody else beat them. That’s when somebody else has to step up and make a play. It didn’t happen today.”
(what's got to change?)
“I don’t know, man. If I knew, I’d change it. Guys just got to step up, stop feeling sorry for yourself, know you’re a good player and have confidence in yourself. There’s no way there should be two, three guys on me and you shouldn’t take it as disrespect. Guys were triple-, double-teaming Shabazz, I was gonna go for 40. You’ve got to step up and have some confidence in yourself.”
(four games in four nights?)
“Anything is possible. But, we come and play how we did in the second half, it ain’t gonna happen. We’ve got to change our approach.”
(team's problems)
“Too many turnovers, gotta stop traveling, man. We travel too much for a Division 1 basketball team. We’ve just got to clean some stuff up. But I definitely believe in these guys still. There’s still a possibility, and I won’t give up.”
“It’s so frustrating. I pray all the time, I wish I was 6-10. I can’t control that. I try to help as much as I can on the rebounds, but that’s not my specialty.”
“Just play basketball, man. I can’t tell you what to do. You’ve got to play with instinct. Me telling you what to do didn’t get you here. All I can do is drag two, three people out, make a good pass. You’ve got to create -- a play for yourself, or a play for somebody else.”
“It’s irritating ... I’m not used to this losing.”
anticoach has simply assembled a crew of unidimensional men or minusdimensional men. apparently anticoach has scollies to grant considering the three unfilled, but there must be no takers coast to coast and anticoach has already wasted about eight of them on dudes who quite frankly cannot play division one basketball. this anticoach gets a max two more yrs to do something and if team is still not competitive he will be gone. however, his staff needs a major shakeup now. they obviously cant recruit so what is their collective purpose. appears to be not much since players dont improve and some regress. it appears all the assistants need to find a new welfare program to support them which is not their alma mater. anticoach needs to take swift action to hire a crossfertilization of men to help him create a competitive team again. it has been three years of this regime with no significant infusion of bonafide impact players. just a bunch of projects have been enrolled and that is being polite. scientists on campus need to be summoned to eradicate the spread of the contagion asperger syndrome that permeates the athletic department pronto. add four new assistant coaches who hail from major player hubs such as chicago, balto wash dc, philadelphia and miami or atlanta and who are well connected. anticoach has los angeles covered. also, do not discount the chance to hire the daddy of a big time recruit if that is what it takes in the short term. other programs like memphis do it all the time. get it done. dooz it nows
ReplyDeleteuhh we won last year, lay off the rubber cement
ReplyDeleteWow. The anti coach won a title last season. Not sure what you are smoking.
ReplyDelete