Uconn V ISU Thoughts

**dmclone** · 03-12-2012, 06:24 PM

I'm fearing Uconn getting a lot of lay-ups.

**Giddyup5** · 03-12-2012, 06:25 PM

Also,

How is White as a jump shooter? Can he make 15-18 footers? Can he shoot off the dribble?

It seems like his game is more about penetrating and creating. Can you play defense against him like Rondo and just dare him to shoot 18 footers all day?

**Doc** · 03-12-2012, 06:30 PM

Originally Posted by Giddyup5

Also,

How is White as a jump shooter? Can he make 15-18 footers? Can he shoot off the dribble?

It seems like his game is more about penetrating and creating. Can you play defense against him like Rondo and just dare him to shoot 18 footers all day?

He doesn't shoot well, but the problem with that is that we look to score off of dribble handoffs from Royce, and his defender needs to be near him to potentially help on the handoff.

**Yellow Snow** · 03-12-2012, 06:32 PM

Originally Posted by Giddyup5

Also,

How is White as a jump shooter? Can he make 15-18 footers? Can he shoot off the dribble?

It seems like his game is more about penetrating and creating. Can you play defense against him like Rondo and just dare him to shoot 18 footers all day?

Here's a good highlight video from our conference season. I realize it's highlights, but all the same, there are some sick moves by Royce in there (30). Those teams he is doing that against aren't chopped liver, and we did go 12-6 in conference. To answer your question... no, he has not proven he can hit a 15 footer reliably. That really hasn't mattered though because we have 4 guys that made 50+ threes this year. Watch the video and you'll see why.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdu87Ak7V94&feature=relmfu"]Iowa State Men's Basketball Big 12 Championships Hit Tape - YouTube[/ame]

**heitclone** · 03-12-2012, 06:37 PM

Originally Posted by dmclone

I'm fearing Uconn getting a lot of lay-ups.

I agree, if they make an effort to push the ball we could be in trouble. With the way we play, we are going to turn the ball over and chuck lots of 3's. Both of those things put a lot of pressure on our transition game.

**Leidang** · 03-12-2012, 06:44 PM

The anticipation move Royce makes to the basket at 2:40 is one of the sickest I have ever seen.... I can't get enough of that. If you freeze frame it he is by his man with the ball while the defender is still looking forward at empty space.

**caw33** · 03-12-2012, 06:58 PM

Flaws with UConn:

Lamb: Lackadaisical at times. Doesn't demand the ball. Lazy on defense/falls asleep on defense. Handle is good, but not going to break you down with it.

Napier: Takes poor gambles on offense and defense. He isn't a stellar athlete at all.

Roscoe: Questionable jumper, doesn't finish strong at the rim. Not a great dribbler.

Oriakhi: Attitude at times. Gets down on himself.

Drummond: Fundamentals are pretty bad for a big man. Doesn't boxout properly. Can't make foul shots. Shooting form on jumpers is low. Sidenote: his AAU/high school coaches tried to make him an all around player when they should have taught him to be the best big he can be.

Boatright: Short. Tweaked his hand during BET. Makes freshmen mistakes. Goes under screens too much.

Giffey: Not a great athlete, slow release on jumper.

Olander: Not a great athlete.

Daniels: has he made a shot this month?

Calhoun: injured still?

Blaney: is he still alive?

Positives for UConn:

Lamb: Babb may be a great defender and may stop Lamb from scoring a lot but as much as Lamb will have to work, so will Babb. When not playing against a zone defense, Calhoun has taught both Ray Allen and Rip Hamilton to work against man defenses. That should tell you what you need to know about Lamb. He is on the same career projection as those two. They both left as juniors though and Lamb is only a sophomore. Lamb is still learning, but he uses screens very well to get open and to get easy shots.

Napier: I'm not 100% sure you should even defend him. I am psuedo joking. Keep with me, I'm just not sure a defender matters in his case. Why? Well it's not because he will beat his man off the dribble and is indefensible. No rather its because he just is so random. He will launch a 3 with 30+ seconds on the shot clock. You may ask, well what's special about that, people do that all the time. The thing is Napier does it from 30-35 feet out with a man in his face. This is both good and bad. Good because he can hit them, bad because he often doesn't which leads to long rebounds and fast breaks for the other team. He is the type of player you look at and go, "if he ever stopped making such dumb mistakes, he would be a heck of a PG." Alas for UConn he still makes stupid decisions. He has no conscious on offense and when he is on, there isn't much you can do, unless you want to defend 30+ feet from the basket.

Roscoe: He can block a few shots and rebound. He is UConn's best defender. He can shoot but hasn't shot well in many games.

Oriakhi: He actually has a decent post game. He is best when he catches and makes a quick decision.

Drummond: freak athlete who can move like he's 6'3 (sometimes plays like he's 6'3 also).

Boatright: if he were 6'3-6'5 he would be one of the best PG's in the country, if not the best. He's 5'9 and merely a very good freshman PG.

Giffey: can hit an open shot, great fundamentals, hustles

Olander: can shoot a bit, hustles decent rebounding technique

Daniels: is long and athletic.

Calhoun: top 3 active coach

Blaney: maybe just in a coma

Why UConn is a 9 seed:

Timeline for UConn. First 6 games no Boatright (with only 2 other guards on the roster, this wore them out) 5-1. 5 games with everyone (beat FSU neutral and Harvard) 5-0. No Calhoun for 3 games (suspension) 2-1. 2 games with everyone 1-1. No Boatright for 3 games, 1-2. Everyone back for 0-2. Calhoun out for 8 games, 3-5. Everyone back final 4 games, 3-1.

That many issues for a young team cost them a lot of close games.

**IbSvU** · 03-12-2012, 07:24 PM

From what I've seen of UConn, which is not much, their half-court offense sucks. I honestly believe their players may have the lowest collective Bball IQ in the nation. None of them seem to have any sense of what to do on offense. Just make sure to rebound, and not turn it over. Without the fast-break UConn struggles to score.
Must be frustrating to be UConn fan because this team nearly matches Kentucky and UNC talent-wise, but their players just seem plain dumb.

**marothisu** · 03-12-2012, 08:13 PM

Here UConn fans. Here's White getting a triple double against Texas A&M this year. The first triple double in Big 12 play since 2006 by ANY player of ANY team (Curtis Stinson of ISU got one in 2006)...so, doesn't happen too often in league play. Something kind of special.

Notice how he affects the game even when he's only scored 2 points.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdYRh5oEJ4U]Royce White Triple-Double vs Texas A&M - YouTube[/ame]

**marothisu** · 03-12-2012, 08:30 PM

Here's also some highlights from the Kansas game

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7-hjkfkM20]Iowa State Men's Basketball Highlights vs. Kansas - YouTube[/ame]

**MNclone** · 03-12-2012, 08:55 PM

I miss the cyhawk that roice had. Keep in mind on these highlights that they are only showing his passes that got assists. One thing ISU does very well is making the second pass for an even better shot.

**caw33** · 03-12-2012, 09:09 PM

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuXR7fFCbU4"]Andre Drummond Highlight Mix - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4H7BEWWg8M"]2011-12 Jeremy Lamb UConn College Highlight Mix HD - YouTube[/ame]

I'm new here, but Drummond and Lamb...best I could find.

**CL82** · 03-12-2012, 09:40 PM

It's going to be an interesting game as the two teams have tools to exploit each other weaknesses. UConn has been challenged guarding the three, your team's bread and butter, but if you miss those long rebounds will send Napier and Boatright off to the races. White is a handful, no doubt about it, and I'm concerned about his ability to make us pay for help defense in the paint by dishing. I suspect that Calhoun will throw a lot of bodies at him looking to wear him down. His ability to help break the press is a double edged sword since he'll burn a lot energy doing it only to find one or more of our bigs waiting for him.

I like I our chances (obviously) but your team is well built to exploit Connecticut's weaknesses. In the end our HOF coach may be the difference.

I'm looking forward to the game.

**Cyclonefan89** · 03-12-2012, 09:40 PM

Originally Posted by Doc

He doesn't shoot well, but the problem with that is that we look to score off of dribble handoffs from Royce, and his defender needs to be near him to potentially help on the handoff.

Not true. He just doesn't shoot from that range. multiple times other cyclones have said he can shoot the ball. also he is 4-12 from 3 (.333%)

**marothisu** · 03-12-2012, 11:11 PM

OH and UConn fans, here's a useless/irrelevant but interesting fact:

Shabazz Napier's mentor growing up was Will Blalock and Blalock took him into his home. Blalock played PG for us a handful of years ago and got drafted by the Pistons.

Will Blalock - College Basketball Nation Blog - ESPN