The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Five takeaways from loss to Florida State
Dan Hurley said his team had Saturday night’s bout with Florida State circled on the calendar for a while now — and not because it marked Hurley’s homecoming to New Jersey.
A neutral-court win over the 11th-ranked Seminoles would have done wonders for UConn’s NET, KenPom ranking over whatever other metrics are used when determining potential NCAA tournament at-large bids. Florida State may end up being the best team the Huskies face in the regular season.
Alas, the Huskies came eight points, a couple of well-timed 3-pointers and/ or free throws, and a few too many fouls short of the upset. They’ve got Syracuse’s pelt on their mantelpiece, but have whiffed on chances against Iowa, Arizona and now FSU. There is one other non-conference chance coming on Dec. 22 against defending national champ Villanova at Madison Square Garden. There will also be chances to pop off some good (possibly ranked) league teams, like Houston, Cincinnati, UCF or Temple.
But, without question, UConn missed out on a chance to win a game that’s been circled on its calendar for a while now.
Here are five takeaways from the loss to FSU and, to a large degree, from the
Huskies’ first 10 games overall.
⏩ SIZE, TALENT DISADVANTAGE: It is abundantly obvious when UConn faces Power 5 opponents that they largely lack the size, strength and athleticism to match up. Bob Hurley Sr. noticed it at his son’s introductory press conference in March, saying he saw a lot of guys who needed to hit the weight room, but it’s actually been an issue for a while now. Louisville’s Montrezl Harrell used to treat UConn like his own personal plaything. The Huskies truly looked like boys against men (at least physically) in their 2016 NCAA tournament second-round loss to Kansas. More recently, they’ve looked over matched against league foes like Cincinnati and Wichita State.
Syracuse outszied UConn by a good deal, but the Huskies were able to navigate the Orange zone and knock down a dozen 3-pointers. The following night, however, Iowa’s long zone proved far more effective, and no Husky could contain 6foot-8, 250-pound forward Tyler Cook, or 6-11 center Luke Garza. UConn matched up pretty well with Arizona, size-wise, but the Wildcats just had a little more length and athleticism. Against FSU, UConn had precious few easy baskets after the first few minutes of play, with 7-4 Christ Koumadje and 6-11 Mfiondu Kabengele clogging the lane.
The Huskies’ front line is largely lean and sinewy. Six-foot-10 Josh Carlton has some bulk, as does Eric Cobb (despite dropping 40 pounds over the offseason). But Carlton, a sophomore, has struggled mightily against stronger, more experienced bigs, and Cobb hasn’t been effective defensively.
But it’s not just 7-footers like Koumadje, Garza or Syracuse’s Paschal Chukwu that present problems. It’s guys like Cook, or 6-7, athletic wings like FSU’s Terance Mann or Syracuse’s Tyus Battle or Arizona’s Brandon Randolph that bring trouble. The Huskies simply don’t have guys to match up with those players.
⏩ DON’T BE A HERO: UConn’s size disadvantages are particularly obvious when its guards try to take the ball to the hole. Jalen Adams is underrated athletically, maybe the secondbest dunker on the team, but too many drives to the basket have been snuffed against the big boys. Alterique Gilbert is listed at 6-foot, but that may be a stretch, and it shows when he drives the lane. Christian Vital has never been particularly adept at taking it to the rack.
It seems Husky guards can be a little too quick to play “hero ball” and try to go one-on-one, or unleash an ill-advised 3-pointer early in the shot clock. UConn’s guards are the strength of the team, so it’s tough to be too critical of them. But there have been numerous times against the P5 opponents where the guards could have made better decisions with the ball, and that has led to an unsightly amount of turnovers: UConn is averaging 18.2 turnovers in its four games against Syracuse, Iowa, Arizona and Florida State.
⏩ FOUL MOODS: Hurley wasn’t asked about it after Saturday’s game, probably because it likely didn’t factor into the final outcome. But the technical foul he incurred with about 30 seconds left certainly didn’t help the Huskies’ cause. The larger point, of course, is that Hurley’s sideline hysterics — while entertaining and certainly sincere — could become a detriment at some point. Referees aren’t always going to like it.
UConn has been outshot at the foul line against all four P5 teams. While fans (and coaches) will blame the officials — the Iowa game, in particular — the simple truth is that the Huskies are committing more fouls in these games. Part of that is trying to compensate for the size and physicality discrepancies. Part of it is poor defensive fundamentals from the past few years. And, perhaps, a small part of it is officials not being fond of Hurley’s sideline antics. ⏩ FOUL SHOOTING: And, of course, when the Huskies get fouled, they haven’t been taking advantage at the charity stripe. UConn is shooting 69.5 percent from the foul line, 173rd in the nation. That dips to 67 percent in their three losses, including 18for-26 against the Seminoles. A few more hits from the line against FSU or Arizona (8-for-13) and those could have been big wins for UConn.
⏩ ACCENTUATE THE POSITIVE: That’s a lot of negatives, but overall, it’s been a positive start for the Huskies. They’ve more than taken care of business against the low-to-midmajors, winning those six games by an average margin of 21.5 points. That’s a far cry from struggling to beat the likes of Cornell or Monmouth in overtime, or losing at home to Wagner or Northeastern. It’s clear the Huskies are better than the past two seasons, much better than the mid-majors, not quite up to snuff against the big boys. There’s plenty of time for improvement, and if Sidney Wilson or Kassoum Yakwe can build off some recent successes, or Mamadou Diarra returns from injury to give a lift, the Huskies could live up to FSU coach Leonard Hamilton’s prediction and be an NCAA tourney team. david.borges @hearstmediact.com