Chief’s Briefs - Alabama Edition

[ctchamps]

If there was one positive from Andre’s injury it would be Newton got more time to be the PG.

It probably feels to him like he left the 4.2 AMC Gremlin that he had at ECU and is now driving a Ferrari 250 GTO.

It will take some time but as he becomes more familiar with how this new car handles the performance he can get from it should only get better.

How deep is Crater Lake? Deep. Really deep!

 

[Chief00]

Chief has not been paying attention to our starting line up or Chief would notice that Newton is the obvious point guard of the starting group. And Chief is clever but the Newton numbers I was reffering to were his season stats where he leads the team in assists averaging 4.9. and the fact he leads the team in minutes per game as you would expect of your top PG. Chief's assertion that our team doesn't have a PG leader is clearly wrong.

Diarra had some PG type games very early on. No less than Jim Calhoun raved about him at practice. So some here made that argument. With Jackson and Hawkins being injured it is perhaps an overreach to look at PG minutes or assists in those games and extrapolate over the season.
Having said that I had Newton in the PG mix and said he needed his ECU assist numbers without the turnovers he had there. Newton was 6/6 from the foul line but 1/6 from the field with the 8 assists that I mentioned in the OP. You want to close down the PG competition and I think it’s still a developing situation. As I stated, Newton will be in the mix (and probably the driver’s seat) but what we don’t have a good handle on is Jackson’s minutes. Diarra and even Joey C may get minutes too. Sometimes things just need to
play out a little.

 

[businesslawyer]

To the contrary I said Newton had 8 assists in my opening post. I would view Newton as a combo guard or PG. But, my point is there have been arguments that Newton, AJax or Diarra is our point guard. I said “perhaps we don’t have that pg leader (as a Kemba or Shabazz) that’s not a criticism but our reality where various guys step up vs. different match-ups.

Nah. Newton is our point and is our clear leader in terms of running the offense. If you mean “our point guard isn’t our best player like the last two championship runs,” well yeah. But we all knew that coming in. Adama is the clear leader of this team, but he’s not going to be running the offense. Our leader wasn’t a PG for most of our dominant teams in the 90s and aughts.

 

[pj]

Diarra had some PG type games very early on. No less than Jim Calhoun raved about him at practice. So some here made that argument. With Jackson and Hawkins being injured it is perhaps an overreach to look at PG minutes or assists in those games and extrapolate over the season.
Having said that I had Newton in the PG mix and said he needed his ECU assist numbers without the turnovers he had there. Newton was 6/6 from the foul line but 1/6 from the field with the 8 assists that I mentioned in the OP. You want to close down the PG competition and I think it’s still a developing situation. As I stated, Newton will be in the mix (and probably the driver’s seat) but what we don’t have a good handle on is Jackson’s minutes. Diarra and even Joey C may get minutes too. Sometimes things just need to
play out a little.

Jackson will get minutes at PG because that is his NBA spot and he needs to develop his skills there, just as Sanogo will get 3 pointers to gain experience judging when to shoot/pass/drive from the perimeter and to showcase his NBA fit. But I see Jackson at PG more as a developmental effort than as the ultimate arrangement. At best in March, he'll be the second PG echoing the Kemba-Shabazz, Khalid-Ricky, Ollie-Sheffer tandems. Which can be a very good pairing! Newton will be the primary PG. Diarra on the court splitting offense/defense with Joey in closing time. Hurley takes care of his seniors and Newton will get his chance to shine for the NBA and learn how to orchestrate a team of NBA-talented teammates (which he's already made tremendous strides to achieving). Diarra on the other hand is not a senior and doesn't need to be showcased, he'll be groomed to be the experienced leader and mentor to Stephon Castle next year. Diarra's time will come next year. If he's 50-50 with Newton, which is unlikely, Newton will still play because Hurley wants to get him to the NBA.

 

[HailUConn]

I think we have perfect combo between Newton and Jackson, a mix of fire and ice. Newton has the poise and cool demeanor that nothing seems to rattle him while Jackson brings in instant intensity and energy. Both are needed when the right time calls. It’s up to Hurley and coaching staff to find the right timing or situation to plug them in accordingly.

 

[Waquoit]

I feel the need to riff on a classic Seinfeld exchange:

Do you feel confident when he's bringing the ball upcourt?
Sure
Can he take the ball to the hole?
Well, he does draw a lot of fouls
Can he shoot and pass?
He did just have a triple-double
Any leadership skills?
He never forced anything while playing the most minutes in a pasting of a top team, even though he was on fire the night before.
Well, I'll tell you what you got here. You got yourself a point guard.

 

[Chief00]

Nah. Newton is our point and is our clear leader in terms of running the offense. If you mean “our point guard isn’t our best player like the last two championship runs,” well yeah. But we all knew that coming in. Adama is the clear leader of this team, but he’s not going to be running the offense. Our leader wasn’t a PG for most of our dominant teams in the 90s and aughts.

So you don’t think Khalid El Amin was a point guard leader in 1999? There’s a difference between best player and leader. Ironically, our coach during that era, Jim Calhoun, was impressed by Diarra at practice. What that means IDK but I wouldn’t completely ignore the his observation.
At any rate, what I said was arguments have been made by posters here for the various guys I mentioned. That’s true. Personally I agree Newton is the leader today, but there are other guys in the mix for significant minutes and things can change. And he will have to consistently have a better assists to turnover ratio than he did at ECU. The other issue, will he view himself as a pass first or score first guy? Sometimes it’s ok to say, we simply just don’t know all the answers yet, no matter how smart we may think we are.

The Boneyard usually overrates the last couple games and underrates other bodies of work and the possibility of something different playing out in the future. Many here had that issue with Randy2 in football, they were tied to the past. We will see how the assists this season play out.

 

[Waquoit]

The other issue, will he view himself as a pass first or score first guy? Sometimes it’s ok to say, we simply just don’t know all the answers yet, no matter how smart we may think we are.

If it was an issue, I'm thinking we would have seen at least a glimpse of it versus Alabama. He came in off an all-time night and never played anything less than team ball. Sometimes it's OK to not to create problems out of thin air.

 

[Chief00]

Another reality check is the shooting % of the guys in PG contention: Newton 37%, Diarra 33% and Jackson 27%.

Compared that with Clingan 68%, Sanogo 66%, Joey California 65% and Karaban 50%.

It is clear that the ability for the first group to get the second group the ball will be key.

Assists per game: Newton 4.9, Jackson 3.9, Diarra 3.7.

So yes, Newton is ahead at this point but he’s shooting 4% better than Diarra with 1.2 more assists per game. Personally, I think it will be him but arguments could be made for others if things change and they could.

Newton is statistically ahead and by the eye test but many here are overstating things. Sure, if he plays liked he did against Oregon he will be an All American. But, last game his assists (8) and foul shooting 6-6) were good while going 1-6 from the floor. If he does more of those two good things he will probably be the guy.

 

[Kenny11]

I'm just saying if he's going to be playing say 28 minutes, something like 8 points would provide a bit of an X Factor as opposed to 4 points.

Definitely. I wish he was more of a finisher..then he would be able to score off the break more, allyoops, getting fouled on drives, etc. but it seems like he’s a natural facilitator. I think the 8-11 points per game is coming though.

 

[Chief00]

Definitely. I wish he was more of a finisher..then he would be able to score off the break more, allyoops, getting fouled on drives, etc. but it seems like he’s a natural facilitator. I think the 8-11 points per game is coming though.

I agree, people are forgetting Andre had surgery a little over a month ago.

 

[businesslawyer]

So you don’t think Khalid El Amin was a point guard leader in 1999? There’s a difference between best player and leader. Ironically, our coach during that era, Jim Calhoun, was impressed by Diarra at practice. What that means IDK but I wouldn’t completely ignore the his observation.
At any rate, what I said was arguments have been made by posters here for the various guys I mentioned. That’s true. Personally I agree Newton is the leader today, but there are other guys in the mix for significant minutes and things can change. And he will have to consistently have a better assists to turnover ratio than he did at ECU. The other issue, will he view himself as a pass first or score first guy? Sometimes it’s ok to say, we simply just don’t know all the answers yet, no matter how smart we may think we are.

The Boneyard usually overrates the last couple games and underrates other bodies of work and the possibility of something different playing out in the future. Many here had that issue with Randy2 in football, they were tied to the past. We will see how the assists this season play out.

El Amin was the leader in that sense. That was 3 out of 20 years. How does that in any way contradict what I said?

 

[Chief00]

El Amin was the leader in that sense. That was 3 out of 20 years. How does that in any way contradict what I said?

Some examples off the top of my head

Chris Smith and his PG cross over dribble helped get things started for Jim Calhoun and then played in The League.

Kevin Ollie was a PG for 3-4 years, won a lot of games passing to Ray Allen and then played PG in The League for about 15 years.

Taliek Brown had a good career and won a NC in 2004 as our PG.

AJ Price made it to the F4 in 2009 as a PG and then played in The League.

Marcus Williams won a ton of games in 2006 and likely would have made tbe F4, if we had more depth in the backcourt.

 

[businesslawyer]

Some examples off the top of my head

Chris Smith and his PG cross over dribble helped get things started for Jim Calhoun and then played in The League.

Kevin Ollie was a PG for 3-4 years, won a lot of games passing to Ray Allen and then played PG in The League for about 15 years.

Taliek Brown had a good career and won a NC in 2004 as our PG.

AJ Price made it to the F4 in 2009 as a PG and then played in The League.

Marcus Williams won a ton of games in 2006 and likely would have made tbe F4, if we had more depth in the backcourt.

Yeah, you’re saying we had a lot of good point guard play. Again, I fully agree. But most of those guys were in no way the leader of the team on the floor.

 

[Huskybass]

Definitely. I wish he was more of a finisher..then he would be able to score off the break more, allyoops, getting fouled on drives, etc. but it seems like he’s a natural facilitator. I think the 8-11 points per game is coming though.

I think it is too. 8-11 coming in a variety of ways would be the perfect supplement to what we are getting from everyone else. Love the kid. One of my favorite Huskies of all time. The offensive production we both anticipate would be a dagger.

 

[Chief00]

Yeah, you’re saying we had a lot of good point guard play. Again, I fully agree. But most of those guys were in no way the leader of the team on the floor.

I guess we could go in circles in defining what leader, best player, etc. mean. But, we agree we had some great point guards. In one way or another I think they help lead the team on the floor, although I agree they may not be the most talented star player who teammates look up to in that way.

 

[Palatine]

Diarra had some PG type games very early on. No less than Jim Calhoun raved about him at practice. So some here made that argument. With Jackson and Hawkins being injured it is perhaps an overreach to look at PG minutes or assists in those games and extrapolate over the season.
Having said that I had Newton in the PG mix and said he needed his ECU assist numbers without the turnovers he had there. Newton was 6/6 from the foul line but 1/6 from the field with the 8 assists that I mentioned in the OP. You want to close down the PG competition and I think it’s still a developing situation. As I stated, Newton will be in the mix (and probably the driver’s seat) but what we don’t have a good handle on is Jackson’s minutes. Diarra and even Joey C may get minutes too. Sometimes things just need to
play out a little.

Chief, Chief, Chief. Give it up. Reaching back for Calhoun quotes is specious at best. Chief needs to fess up, Chief knows he is wrong about this .

 

[pj]

Another reality check is the shooting % of the guys in PG contention: Newton 37%, Diarra 33% and Jackson 27%.

Compared that with Clingan 68%, Sanogo 66%, Joey California 65% and Karaban 50%.

It is clear that the ability for the first group to get the second group the ball will be key.

Assists per game: Newton 4.9, Jackson 3.9, Diarra 3.7.

So yes, Newton is ahead at this point but he’s shooting 4% better than Diarra with 1.2 more assists per game. Personally, I think it will be him but arguments could be made for others if things change and they could.

Newton is statistically ahead and by the eye test but many here are overstating things. Sure, if he plays liked he did against Oregon he will be an All American. But, last game his assists (8) and foul shooting 6-6) were good while going 1-6 from the floor. If he does more of those two good things he will probably be the guy.

Newton is better statistically on everything (shooting, rebounds, turnovers, steals, fouls) except assists, where on a per-40 minute basis, Diarra has 7.4 APG and Newton 7.0 APG. Big Newton advantage for 3 pt shooting (40% vs 22%) and getting to the free throw line (9.9 FTA vs 4.0 FTA per 40 minutes). A:TO ratio is 2.8 for Newton, 2.0 for Hassan.

If you made Newton shoot at Diarra's volume, he'd make a lot more passes and be better on assist rate too. I think he's just the better player.

 

[Chief00]

Newton is better statistically on everything (shooting, rebounds, turnovers, steals, fouls) except assists, where on a per-40 minute basis, Diarra has 7.4 APG and Newton 7.0 APG. Big Newton advantage for 3 pt shooting (40% vs 22%) and getting to the free throw line (9.9 FTA vs 4.0 FTA per 40 minutes). A:TO ratio is 2.8 for Newton, 2.0 for Hassan.

If you made Newton shoot at Diarra's volume, he'd make a lot more passes and be better on assist rate too. I think he's just the better player.

The foul shooting advantage by Newton is huge. Late in close games often the PG goes to the line.

 

[UconnPT2007]

More minutes for Joey C, Less minutes for AJax
Let Adama shoot 3’s
Let Hawkins continue to have the full green light
More Newton, less Diarra

This team has been the most fun to watch since 2014. Just so deep, steady, and no real glaring deficiencies. And most importantly, we can shoot! Hawkins can work his way into the lottery this year, Sanogo doesn’t translate as well to the NBA except as a poor man’s Draymond Green. Jackson is our worst player. Karaban is the glue guy, Joey C is the sniper. Clingan is just a monster defensively with a very high ceiling.

 

[Waquoit]

Late in close games often the PG goes to the line.

Unless they play for Alabama, apparently.