Seven Days to Rest Up

[UConnSwag11]

Great timing for this break. Take care of all the bumps and bruises. Get Clingan’s stamina up and give him the PT he needs.

One thing the team should work on is free throws. I think that’s an area they should work on. It’s going to be crucial going forward.

Castle could be averaging 17-20 ppg if he was more aggressive on offense. His shooting form is great and he can get to the rim at well. The midrange game is there for him. Something he should work on this week.

Great timing for this break. It’s going to be a long week but much needed. It’s not a first 5 games when they come back. They should be well rested and ready to go next Sunday.

 

[GlastonTim]

Like to see Castle in the dunker spot occasionally.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Get Clingan's stamina up to 26-28 mpg.
Get Johnson comfortable re-redefining his role.
Get Stewart up to speed. I liked his 3 against Nova. No hesitation.
Figure out how to keep ball moving when Castle gets it in half court.

Clean up defending inbounds plays.

This is doable.

 

[Hunt for 7]

They will work on their offense and hopefully keep the defensive effort where it was last two games.
It is clear they have two areas which should be a focus.
1) Getting Clingan in better shape and working on a little inside out offense. They have to guard him down low and he is a good enough passer to make this work.
2) Castle where does he fit best in the offense. And take hundreds of three pointers over the next week.

 

[Kenny11]

Castle gets the ball on the wing a lot. He can attack fine from there but I wonder if he gets to attack from the top of the key will open up things for him more and especially help create better looks for our shooters. Cam and tristen were playing catch with eachother a lot last night

 

[prankster]

Teach Johnson and Clingan how to drain a 3.

Work with Ross to help get his game minutes up.

Free throws for everybody

 

[uconngb]

Teach Johnson and Clingan how to drain a 3.

Work with Ross to help get his game minutes up.

Free throws for everybody

Ross?? Really?? What game minutes?? And why?

 

[Chin Diesel]

Teach Johnson and Clingan how to drain a 3.

Work with Ross to help get his game minutes up.

Free throws for everybody

You forgot the
"/s".

 

[OceanDoggie]

Get Clingan's stamina up to 26-28 mpg.
Get Johnson comfortable re-redefining his role.
Get Stewart up to speed. I liked his 3 against Nova. No hesitation.
Figure out how to keep ball moving when Castle gets it in half court.

Clean up defending inbounds plays.

This is doable.

Basically need Stewart as a true freshman to do some of what Tyler Burton is doing for Villanova as a 5th year senior.

 

[pj]

Ross?? Really?? What game minutes?? And why?

Post/handle on Prankster.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Like to see Castle in the dunker spot occasionally.

This worked last year for Andre, but this is a different team and it wouldn’t be as easy a fix for this year.

 

[jibsey]

This won't be popular but I don't prefer Castle taking 3's. No reason to do it. He's 4-20 20%. We have better options. Unless. Unless he can improve that between now and March. So the question is would Hurley sit him down and tell him to stop taking them? If this continues at this rate for several more weeks then limit his 3's..

 

[uconngb]

This won't be popular but I don't prefer Castle taking 3's. No reason to do it. He's 4-20 20%. We have better options. Unless. Unless he can improve that between now and March. So the question is would Hurley sit him down and tell him to stop taking them? If this continues at this rate for several more weeks then limit his 3's..

Why do you think that’s not popular. It makes perfect sense. Why do we want a guy who’s a 20% shooter taking 3s?? Andre was a better 3 point shooter over his career and nobody wanted him shooting 3s last year. It’s not Castles game either, no big deal. Utilize his assets, not his liability.

 

[MTBingNinja]

Great timing for this break. Take care of all the bumps and bruises. Get Clingan’s stamina up and give him the PT he needs.

One thing the team should work on is free throws. I think that’s an area they should work on. It’s going to be crucial going forward.

Castle could be averaging 17-20 ppg if he was more aggressive on offense. His shooting form is great and he can get to the rim at well. The midrange game is there for him. Something he should work on this week.

Great timing for this break. It’s going to be a long week but much needed. It’s not a first 5 games when they come back. They should be well rested and ready to go next Sunday.

….Castle not there yet to score 17 without making jumpers and threes. It’ll come though. Maybe next year if he sticks around

 

[AntG168]

Why do you think that’s not popular. It makes perfect sense. Why do we want a guy who’s a 20% shooter taking 3s?? Andre was a better 3 point shooter over his career and nobody wanted him shooting 3s last year. It’s not Castles game either, no big deal. Utilize his assets, not his liability.

Easy. Sample Size. I’d wager he’s a better shooter than AJax. He still shouldn’t take more than 2 a game

 

[Hunt for 7]

This won't be popular but I don't prefer Castle taking 3's. No reason to do it. He's 4-20 20%. We have better options. Unless. Unless he can improve that between now and March. So the question is would Hurley sit him down and tell him to stop taking them? If this continues at this rate for several more weeks then limit his 3's..

I think you have to give him a few more games. They are wide open and he just needs to take them without thinking. I am hopeful he gets a game at home where he hits his first and then gets some confidence. These are wide open pre game threes we are talking. No one is within five feet. In practice I bet he makes 7 out of 10. He has to be able to convert 35-40% of the wide open threes. If he is not better by mid February then implement plan B whatever that is. But this is on him. If you are billed as a one done wing I don’t see how that happens if he cannot shoot and make wide open three’s at the college level. He has a lot riding on his ability to make these wide open shots. Please note I am emphasizing WIDE OPEN.

 

[ucp990411]

I look for them to tweak the offense some. Creighton and Villanova were both effective by being very aggressive defending our guards pretty far from the basket. I look for us to perhaps utilize the area around the nail with Castle at the nail and some hi low action with Clingan. We can still run our set, just throw this option in. If Castle gets the ball here it would also allow him to attack the basket, something he is very good at. Put Cam in one corner and Alex in the other, then Steph would not be doubled.
To those who say practice free throw shooting. Obviously you have never coached or been to a practice. Teams shoot a ton of free throws every practice. We really have only one not so good free throw shooter. Clingan. And his form is perfect. He needs to relax at the line. I bet he makes 70% from here on out.

 

[BGesus4]

Hopefully this week helps Cams feet heal some. Looked like he aggravated the injury during nova.

 

[UConnSwag11]

….Castle not there yet to score 17 without making jumpers and threes. It’ll come though. Maybe next year if he sticks around

He's averaging 9.4 ppg on 3-7 per game and 2.5-3.5 on FT made and attempted. He 100% can average 17+ ppg without focusing on shooting threes. He should focus on mid-range jumpers, getting to the rim, and FT. He's going to shoot threes, but we have 4 guys who can hit those so it's not a huge concern right now. He has great form so that's not a concern. He can also average more than 3.5 assists once he becomes more aggressive by getting into the lane.

 

[my2cents]

I think they should be working on getting the ball to Clingan down low more and getting Karaban more shots.

 

[Tenspro2002]

This won't be popular but I don't prefer Castle taking 3's. No reason to do it. He's 4-20 20%. We have better options. Unless. Unless he can improve that between now and March. So the question is would Hurley sit him down and tell him to stop taking them? If this continues at this rate for several more weeks then limit his 3's..

He has to make guys guard him, to open up driving lanes for himself or cutting lanes for others.

Or he has to do what Andre Jackson did at times last year and lurk along the baseline for alley-oop or dump-down opportunities.

 

[imno1]

We knew Castle was not a great shooter coming in but I think he’s better than he’s has shown so far. I believe Steph has the ability to be better than a 20% 3 pt shooter. He has got to take a few if left open.

 

[REB1094]

Just get healthy while staying in game shape. Team is 17-2, #1 in the country, and now a full game up in the BE. There are lots of things to clean up, but whatever we are doing works

Clingan was visibly out of breath at Nova. Good to rest the foot but also spend time getting him back up to game speed

Free throw practice is always good but we aren’t horrible at them. Top third in the country which is not great but not bad. Newton and Diarra are 79 and 81% shooters. Cam and Karaban both 88%. Castle (72%) and the bigs (50s) drag us down so that’s the focus area

Castle’s form isn’t the worst but I’d guess that he’s a much better shooter than his percentages. I’d say it’s more a mental issue than it is a skill issue. 20% is too low but if he can get to 1/3 in game, that’d be fine

 

[Palatine]

This won't be popular but I don't prefer Castle taking 3's. No reason to do it. He's 4-20 20%. We have better options. Unless. Unless he can improve that between now and March. So the question is would Hurley sit him down and tell him to stop taking them? If this continues at this rate for several more weeks then limit his 3's..

For Castle to improve as a three point shooter he has to take some treys during games. If Castle improves as a three point shooter, if will open up the inside for our centers and drivers. We will become an even more dangerous team.

Castle shooting 20% doesn't hurt us all that much. With our offensive rebounding prowess, we still turn some of those misses into points. As long as he defends, rebounds and scores 10 points a game, why not let him work a little on his game with a large reward for our game if he improves? It also shows that Hurley has faith in him. Which is one of the reasons players give maximum effort for the Huskies.

 

[Greathusky]

Castle reminds me of Andre in his freshman year.

Love the defensive energy and when he drives the lane but cringe when he hoists a three pointer.