The A.J. Project

DePaul 66 Uconn 58

Jim Calhoun has done just about everything he can to get this team to improve. Every game has a different starting lineup and each game ends the same way, with a pitiful offensive performance. Is there one particular culprit to point your finger at for this one? Shooting 22 for 58 from the floor doesn’t help but DePaul only made one more field goal than Uconn, going 23 for 57.

So what is it? Rebounds? Uconn wasn’t dominant, though they should have, collecting 36 against DePaul’s 32. Assists? DePaul doubled Uconn, dishing 13 of them to Uconn’s 7 but the lack of assists are not from bad passing but missed shots and passed up shots for drives. Free throws? Definitely not. Uconn had their best game from the line going 12 for 14.

Then what is it that has Uconn sputtering on offense? It isn’t in the stats. They're not running. Plain and simple. Uconn has always been a team that pushes the ball up the court as soon as the they rebound. Did you see the way they played in the last twelve minutes? That is the way they should have played these past seven games. Run, run and run some more. But this team isn’t doing it. The guards and forwards are lingering to long after the ball is rebounded. There should be no one standing around. Everyone should be out of breath, wearing down the other team. Uconn has the depth to do this but they choose not to.

The defense needs to stop the back door cuts which is another result of lingering and not getting back. The transition defense is where other teams are devouring Uconn. When Uconn gets into a five on five, they excel and hold there own. Be it Draelon Burns drops 26 on Uconn when he averages 9 a game and Uconn watches another shot drop at the buzzer before halftime but Uconn had their shots and didn’t make them.

Uconn has size and athletes that are comparable to any in the Big East but they don’t have strength. Smaller but heavier men are pushing Uconn’s big men around. Several times, getting around Thabeet’s long frame for position and did you see during a dead ball that Thabeet wound up to kick the ball like a soccer player. The kid is learning how to use his upper body in coordination with his lower half. It will come around, but not this year. Time to lower his minutes.

A.J. could’ve been hurt but leaving him out until they were so deep in the hole to climb out seemed counter-productive. Calhoun could have been sending him a message but at the cost of a victory. A.J. did respond with emotion and played ten solid minutes but not enough. Stanley Robinson had a good offensive game but his defensive lapses have caused to many easy buckets in transition. Adrien had another solid performance but is a role player not a playmaker. Dyson has tenacity and pose, almost looking like not caring at times, but a player you want on your team. If he finds his jump shot, he’ll be an Allen Iverson. Austrie played well, scoring but didn’t dish out an assist in 27 minutes.

Uconn needs to turn this ship around and to do that is to do two things: Run and Run some more because there'll be plenty of resting come March.