Brilliance and Experience on Back to Back Plays

[Tenspro2002]

These weren't the most impactful plays on Saturday night, coming at the tail end of our 30-0 run with the game already pretty much out of reach, but highlights the brilliance and craftiness of our most experienced players and shows what kind of an advantage they have.

The sequence begins at 48-23 when Illinois misses a 3 and Newton collects the rebound looking to push. Karaban streaks down the left side towards the hoop with Diarra following toward the wing. Newton drifts and looks towards Diarra, which draws the defender's attention to Diarra and away from Karaban, before throwing a 45-degree, partially-no-look pass to Karaban at the rim. Shannon, who was paying attention to Spencer on the right wing, could only react too late and committed the foul on Karaban's dunk.

The second was immediately afterward, on defense, where the ball ended up out of bounds on Illinois's offensive baseline. Spencer is kind of lurking in the paint and sagging off of his man, who drifts well above the 3-point line, 15-20 feet away. Spencer keeps glancing back at the inbounder to see where he's looking. Illinois thinks they have an easy inbound pass. They did not. As the passer goes into his motion, Spencer sprints out to the 3 point line for the easy interception, leading to a fast break assist to Diarra. He baited them into throwing that pass and set up the pick the whole way.

These guys might not be the most athletically gifted, but are among the headiest we've had, and use it to utterly demoralize the opposition.

 

[AllHusky]

How many times and how many’s can you say it, Cam is THE junkyard dog. So much fun.

 

[ctbro1999]

There was another play later in the 2nd half where Spencer started a drive into the lane, whipped it to Clingan who was deep in left of the basket, and he immediately kicked it back to a cutting Spencer who laid it in for an easy layup. Those kinds of plays only happen on teams that are totally in sync with each other.

 

[Tenspro2002]

There was another play later in the 2nd half where Spencer started a drive into the lane, whipped it to Clingan who was deep in left of the basket, and he immediately kicked it back to a cutting Spencer who laid it in for an easy layup. Those kinds of plays only happen on teams that are totally in sync with each other.

And all of that with 3 seconds on the shot clock.

I think we have more assists with 1-3 seconds on the shot clock than any team in the country (and this was Spencer getting a hockey assist to himself with 3 seconds on the shot clock).. The trust and composure we have is incredible.

 

[aceboon]

Was going to start a thread on it but probably best to just note it here since you touched on it, but Newton's passing has been incredible this year. I know he had the assists and triple doubles last year but maybe because of AJ's presence it didn't stick out to me, but his passing this season has been the best from a UConn pg that I can remember since Marcus Williams. Junior/Senior year versions of AJ and Shabazz would be the closest competitors in that area. He obviously plays in the best system and has the best collection of offensive talent to play with but he's always hitting guys right on target or leading them directly to baskets. During the run he had two halfcourt dimes to AK that led to a layup and dunk where AK didn't even have to adjust or break stride to catch. He's been doing it all season and especially with the bigs where Clingan and Johnson don't have to do to much to receive the pass. Both him and Spencer are really gifted in that area, really our best passing backcourt ever imo(my fandom dates back to 94).

 

[tennmike]

These weren't the most impactful plays on Saturday night, coming at the tail end of our 30-0 run with the game already pretty much out of reach, but highlights the brilliance and craftiness of our most experienced players and shows what kind of an advantage they have.

The sequence begins at 48-23 when Illinois misses a 3 and Newton collects the rebound looking to push. Karaban streaks down the left side towards the hoop with Diarra following toward the wing. Newton drifts and looks towards Diarra, which draws the defender's attention to Diarra and away from Karaban, before throwing a 45-degree, partially-no-look pass to Karaban at the rim. Shannon, who was paying attention to Spencer on the right wing, could only react too late and committed the foul on Karaban's dunk.

The second was immediately afterward, on defense, where the ball ended up out of bounds on Illinois's offensive baseline. Spencer is kind of lurking in the paint and sagging off of his man, who drifts well above the 3-point line, 15-20 feet away. Spencer keeps glancing back at the inbounder to see where he's looking. Illinois thinks they have an easy inbound pass. They did not. As the passer goes into his motion, Spencer sprints out to the 3 point line for the easy interception, leading to a fast break assist to Diarra. He baited them into throwing that pass and set up the pick the whole way.

These guys might not be the most athletically gifted, but are among the headiest we've had, and use it to utterly demoralize the opposition.

The give-and-go in the paint between Clingan and Spencer was classic 2024 UConn basketball.

 

[superjohn]

How many times and how many’s can you say it, Cam is THE junkyard dog. So much fun.

He's a 40/50/90 guy with uncommon passing/vision and he gets 12 rebounds in an Elite 8 game. He's had one of the best seasons a guard has ever had at UConn and we have an incredible history of guards.

 

[Methalius]

The 60 foot no look pass from Newton to Karaban sadly doesn't end up on most highlights or ESPN's top plays but that is the kind of basketball I can watch all day everyday. Newton hit Karaban perfectly and Alex finished and was fouled. The overhead view that TBS replayed only once shows how beautiful their offense is to watch. It's not just about elite athleticism, it's about elite intelligence and basketball IQ. These plays are the kind of plays that separates UConn from the rest of the pack.