Tristen Newton is now a Point God

[inWV]

Yes, they are, until they say otherwise.

Every player will likely announce their intentions in the next few days.

Haven’t been following it closely, but Rivals shows UCONN with 5 incoming recruits. With 3 leaving, the scholarship number would be two heavy.

 

[temery]

Haven’t been following it closely, but Rivals shows UCONN with 5 incoming recruits. With 3 leaving, the scholarship number would be two heavy.

Every player is returning until he says otherwise.

Parade this weekend, then each players will likely announce their intentions next week.

Everyone is going to have to wait until then.

 

[HuskyHoosier]

Every player is returning until he says otherwise.

Parade this weekend, then each players will likely announce their intentions next week.

Everyone is going to have to wait until then.

I absolutely love this board rule and the fact you guys enforce it the best you can. Kids deserve to announce this stuff on their time.

 

[businesslawyer]

Heard of Stephon Castle? Lol

Castle will be a young freshman next year. A true freshman. Hopefully he’s as great a talent as we expect him to be, but I don’t expect a polished finished product either.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Courtesy of TCF I learned today that in the last 30 years there have been 4 UConn guards to average more than 4.5 assists and less than 2.5 turnovers for a season. Taliek Brown, AJ Price, Shabazz Napier and . . . Tristen Newton.

The kid can play, and it really irks me that he had to hear from “fans” that he was a weak link all year.

 

[noeynox]

You must be fun at parties.

Bring back the dislike button.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Castle will be a young freshman next year. A true freshman. Hopefully he’s as great a talent as we expect him to be, but I don’t expect a polished finished product either.

I just can’t subscribe to this opinion. We have more than enough examples of great impact freshmen throughout our history. And a lot of them weren’t McD’s AA like Castle is.

The expectation for him is to be a one and done and probably be one of the best players in the conference next year. I personally wouldn’t want anything to get in the way of letting the kind of talent he is shine as much as possible. He’s so good. Hurley seems to have a lot of trust in him too.

 

[noeynox]

'Because a 1/2 dozen twits kept logging in every morning, picking a person, and down voted a months worth of posts.

That really a valid reason?

 

[businesslawyer]

I just can’t subscribe to this opinion. We have more than enough examples of great impact freshmen throughout our history. And a lot of them weren’t McD’s AA like Castle is.

The expectation for him is to be a one and done and probably be one of the best players in the conference next year. I personally wouldn’t want anything to get in the way of letting the kind of talent he is shine as much as possible. He’s so good. Hurley seems to have a lot of trust in him too.

You don’t have to. But people get nominated for the McDonald’s game based on pro potential, not the impact they are likely to have in the college game in their first year. That’s the reason that Kentucky and Duke aren’t winning national championships year after year after year. As a Kentucky fan was quoted on here yesterday, during Calapari’s tenure they are not even the Wildcats with the most national championships.

I hope Castle is great and helps us win right away. But if you don’t think most players improve greatly while in college, especially from their first to their second year, you’re not looking hard enough. Certainly Sanogo, Jackson and Hawkins each made huge jumps despite the talent they came in with.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Courtesy of TCF I learned today that in the last 30 years there have been 4 UConn guards to average more than 4.5 assists and less than 2.5 turnovers for a season. Taliek Brown, AJ Price, Shabazz Napier and . . . Tristen Newton.

The kid can play, and it really irks me that he had to hear from “fans” that he was a weak link all year.

Two of those listed (Taliek, Tristan) were maligned at a near criminal level yet each played a major role in bringing this fan base a trophy.

 

[Citrusdog]

He made his free throws - when it mattered. That’s what I’ll remember about him helping us push past a stubborn scrappy SDSU team. I also can’t forget Hawkins 3 - when they got within 5. That was lethal and timed right. TN and JH along with Adana making his free throws - were memorable.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

If this kid got a fair whistle he’d have averaged 20 points this year

 

[pj]

Castle and Newton are very similar players. If 18 year old Stephon Castle gives us as much next year as 21 year old Tristen Newton gave us this year, we'll be very pleased with him. Maybe he's a better prospect because he can do similar things at a younger age, but he's not necessarily going to be a better player for us. And Newton proved to be a perfect fit for this team.

We were so skilled and deep, the only way teams could beat us was to harass us physically, beat us up, force turnovers, and disturb us to get us to foul in return or forget our identity. That worked for a while, but the team figured it out. Newton was tough enough to stand up to it, and calm enough to keep his composure.

Thank you Tristen! You were the guy I wanted out of the portal, so glad we got you.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

You don’t have to. But people get nominated for the McDonald’s game based on pro potential, not the impact they are likely to have in the college game in their first year. That’s the reason that Kentucky and Duke aren’t winning national championships year after year after year. As a Kentucky fan was quoted on here yesterday, during Calapari’s tenure they are not even the Wildcats with the most national championships.

I hope Castle is great and helps us win right away. But if you don’t think most players improve greatly while in college, especially from their first to their second year, you’re not looking hard enough. Certainly Sanogo, Jackson and Hawkins each made huge jumps despite the talent they came in with.

Oh, guys 100% improve year over year and I don’t think you can win with a team full of young guys.

I’m just saying that he’ll probably come in ready to be one of the best players in the conference instantly. He’ll have room for growth, but he’s going to be REALLY good immediately too. 6’7 PG, who plays with pace, has great athleticism, and is a genuine three level scorer is special.

Newton was great for us this year and took it to another level during this Final Four, but I think Castle has a chance to be one of the best scorers on the team next year to take it a step further.

 

[businesslawyer]

Oh, guys 100% improve year over year and I don’t think you can win with a team full of young guys.

I’m just saying that he’ll probably come in ready to be one of the best players in the conference instantly. He’ll have room for growth, but he’s going to be REALLY good immediately too. 6’7 PG, who plays with pace, has great athleticism, and is a genuine three level scorer is special.

Newton was great for us this year and took it to another level during this Final Four, but I think Castle has a chance to be one of the best scorers on the team next year to take it a step further.

So as I understand it Castle isn't thought of more highly than Whitmore was coming into 'Nova this year. And Whitmore's talent, and NBA potential, is undeniable. But you don't really think he helped make his team better to the degree that Alex Karaban did, do you? If you do, great, but recognize that's a minority opinion here.

I don't at all mind if you think differently than me on this, because this is a good and useful discussion, but my position is that freshmen McDonalds AAs are almost certain to have a lot of raw talent and potential, but many of them won't help a team succeed as a team their freshman year to the same extent that a more experienced player with far less talent might. Which is why I don't get my hopes up too high. If I go back to the beginning of the Jim Calhoun era, the two players who came in with the most NBA potential as freshmen were probably Rudy Gay and Andre Drummond. In their freshmen years, they were both good players with undeniable NBA potential not just to make the league but to be stars. Neither one made the team much better than we would have been without them. Certainly, neither had the impact on the Team being successful that Karaban and possibly Clingan had this year because they couldn't find or implement the right roles for fitting their undeniable talent into the team that existed around them.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

So as I understand it Castle isn't thought of more highly than Whitmore was coming into 'Nova this year. And Whitmore's talent, and NBA potential, is undeniable. But you don't really think he helped make his team better to the degree that Alex Karaban did, do you? If you do, great, but recognize that's a minority opinion here.

I don't at all mind if you think differently than me on this, because this is a good and useful discussion, but my position is that freshmen McDonalds AAs are almost certain to have a lot of raw talent and potential, but many of them won't help a team succeed as a team their freshman year to the same extent that a more experienced player with far less talent might. Which is why I don't get my hopes up too high. If I go back to the beginning of the Jim Calhoun era, the two players who came in with the most NBA potential as freshmen were probably Rudy Gay and Andre Drummond. In their freshmen years, they were both good players with undeniable NBA potential not just to make the league but to be stars. Neither one made the team much better than we would have been without them. Certainly, neither had the impact on the Team being successful that Karaban and possibly Clingan had this year because they couldn't find or implement the right roles for fitting their undeniable talent into the team that existed around them.

You make a lot of great points here.

Definitely would’ve taken both Karaban and DC from a roster and role standpoint over Cam (DC may have a better NBA career too but we’ll see when we get there). Also happy we get to have them after this year. Do think Nova’s issue had less to do with Cam and more their roster and coaching as a whole though.

You also bring up great points on Rudy and Drummond. Even though I do think Rudy made the team better (not by much because we only went to the 32) but Drummond for sure just wasn’t a good fit in 2012. Both guys were mostly athletic freaks who’s skills needed developing.

My hope is that Castle would be a good fit taking over Newton’s exact responsibilities pretty much while being a more dynamic scorer and we’ll have a nice blend of vets in AJ (fingers crossed), DC, and Karaban to keep this ball rolling. That is the hope at least. I’d see going from Newton to Castle as being similar to going from Martin to Hawkins.

This year we had a very highly skilled roster with good talent. Next year is looking like we’ll have talent oozing out of our rear ends with the amount of size and athleticism on the floor.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

I hope Castle is great and helps us win right away. But if you don’t think most players improve greatly while in college, especially from their first to their second year, you’re not looking hard enough. Certainly Sanogo, Jackson and Hawkins each made huge jumps despite the talent they came in with.

It’s classic Boneyard. The next kid up is the shiny new toy and we’ve watched him bully 16 year olds on tape so people say he’s better than the kid who’s four years older than he is and just closed out a national championship against a bunch of 25 year olds in front of 70,000 people.

 

[Husky25]

Congratulation UConn Fans!

Victorious!

Yes, Tristan Newton had moments of excellence throughout the season & was really fantastic tonight in the championship game.

However, I am glad that UConn will have real point guard talent coming in next season, more of a coach on the floor than Tristen.

Unfortunately, Tristan was a human turnover machine all year long, even today when he absolutely had to take care of the ball.

Tristan's ball-handling skills are shaky. He often gets trapped (by himself) in corners because he doesn't have great court vision or the muscle to dribble out of it like AJAX does.

Tristan's outside shooting is not great. Often his shooting line was 2-8. Paradoxically, he nails his free throws, a must for a point guard.

Newton can drive, but he can't finish well at the rim because he's not a leaper, has no left hand or many moves, & is not strong enough to get a clean shot in off the backboard. He definitely does not have a Big East guard type of body strength.

Tristan often seems to take a whole half to wake up & often wilted under the pressure of trapping defenses.

So Newton often failed as much as he succeeded as the "appointed point guard" of a team whose other guards could not fill the bill for longer than a few minutes. He did a fair job for a guy who had the ball longer than any other Husky & who often killed the clock & timing of plays by over-dribbling too much.
+
Congratulations to national champion Tristan Newton. But the Huskies can improve with a true point guard who can see the floor AND Shoot. Someone who is stronger.

Great year guys!

Father Demo

"Congrats on winning. Here's 2,000 words on all the reasons why you should not have."

Not sure (that I care) what the point of this post is.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

It’s classic Boneyard. The next kid up is the shiny new toy and we’ve watched him bully 16 year olds on tape so people say he’s better than the kid who’s four years older than he is and just closed out a national championship against a bunch of 25 year olds in front of 70,000 people.

Newton definitely took it up another level during the Final Four which was great to see. The championship game was one of his best games of the year. Loved the addition when he came in and he was a great fit.

You could’ve said somewhat the same thing with Martin and Hawkins heading into the year too fwiw.

 

[husky1bags]

Two of those listed (Taliek, Tristan) were maligned at a near criminal level yet each played a major role in bringing this fan base a trophy.

Holy crap Taliek was maligned on here. All he did was take care of the ball & get it to right spots on floor so UCONN could win. I loved Taliek Brown

 

[temery]

That really a valid reason?

Yes, because it creates work for me. And I don't like working.

 

[storrsroars]

'Even in the chat during the game. A couple people posted more than once, "take him out."

Well, the chat room yelled, "take him out!" at every single member of the roster at one point or another. Except Andrew and Richie.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

Yes, because it creates work for me. And I don't like working.

You have to admit, though, that the sheer pettiness in going out of one's way to serially downvote people is amusing. (Although I can think of one poster who was most definitely not amused.)

 

[temery]

Well, the chat room yelled, "take him out!" at every single member of the roster at one point or another. Except Andrew and Richie.

Nah

 

[noeynox]

Yes, because it creates work for me. And I don't like working.

That IS a valid reason.