A night none of us will ever forget

[Huskybass]

Hawkins coming out party with 31.
Samson looking exactly like we all hoped he could be. Frightening upside.
Karaban, career high and a big step toward becoming a UConn legend. All American in the making?

 

[Rocktheworld]

Karaban was doing so much more than hunting on the perimeter. Another off season of strength training surely helped. Great, great game. We’ll see if he can continue that against real teams. He could be an incredible player next year.

 

[Rico444]

He could be an incredible player next year.

He could be, but it might not be in Storrs.

 

[Jay-Bone]

And the kids looked like they all could contribute this year. Very encouraging.

 

[McLovin]

He could be, but it might not be in Storrs.

Haha yup - same thought. The career arc he is on right now he could be 2nd/3rd team All-American next year and 1st team his senior year. But he also very well could be headed to the NBA before he gets the chance…

 

[Rico444]

Haha yup - same thought. The career arc he is on right now he could be 2nd/3rd team All-American next year and 1st team his senior year. But he also very well could be headed to the NBA before he gets the chance…

I would guess there's a decent but not great chance he's back for next season and an extremely small chance he's here 4 years.

 

[McLovin]

I would guess there's a decent but not great chance he's back for next season and an extremely small chance he's here 4 years.

Yeah we will see. If he plays like he did last night through the non-con slate I wouldn't be surprised if he is popping up in the late first round on mock draft boards by January.

 

[XLCenterFan]

We’re deep again. At all positions. When we go to the bench we will eat teams again.

 

[gsmooth]

We’re deep again. At all positions. When we go to the bench we will eat teams again.

I agree. The freshmen were getting their feet wet at the shallow end of the pool and they looked good for the most part with a little bad sprinkled in. They will continue to get better and provide many valuable minutes.

I liked the activity from Samson. He has to lay off the silly fouls, though. Chalk that up to being excited that he is finally getting good minutes and not garbage time minutes.

 

[g_smith]

I agree. The freshmen were getting their feet wet at the shallow end of the pool and they looked good for the most part with a little bad sprinkled in. They will continue to get better and provide many valuable minutes.

I liked the activity from Samson. He has to lay off the silly fouls, though. Chalk that up to being excited that he is finally getting good minutes and not garbage time minutes.

Samson has that issue right now and where if he gets a solid dunk on offense, he’s too hyped on defense and picks up a foul. I expect them to mention that on tape. We can’t have him committing that many fouls, especially with Clingan not 100% from his foot injury. Might take a couple more weeks to have him playing as many minutes as we want him too.

 

[Rocktheworld]

He could be, but it might not be in Storrs.

We’ll see how the year goes. If we go on a run and he has another great shooting year, we’ll see. He was often asked to defend the other team’s best player last year, but I think he still has more to prove in that regard for NBA scouts. His athleticism will never match Hawkins’s.

 

[KeyWestUC]

Samson has that issue right now and where if he gets a solid dunk on offense, he’s too hyped on defense and picks up a foul. I expect them to mention that on tape. We can’t have him committing that many fouls, especially with Clingan not 100% from his foot injury. Might take a couple more weeks to have him playing as many minutes as we want him too.

A good sign (take it with a grain of salt - NAU LOL) but at the 16:05 mark he bodies up with his man on d, forces the action, blocks the shot, controls the rebound, throws the outlet pass for a fastbreak layup foul - it is what he is supposed to do - so a good sign!

 

[AZHuskiePop]

P

Karaban was doing so much more than hunting on the perimeter. Another off season of strength training surely helped. Great, great game. We’ll see if he can continue that against real teams. He could be an incredible player next year.

Karaban Power increase was noticeable he is a strong kid
He also exudes confidence
and has a quiet swagger that the other kids feed off .
Sampson has to use his feet on D more and with that length and and athletic ability could become that second elite rim protector .
We don’t have that elite perimeter defender so rim protection could be important .
Clingan could have named his point total but Hurley played him in spurts
The kids aren‘t shy they made some mistakes but that’s how you get better . Castle is one of those guys that the game seems to be in slow motion for that enables him to see things and deliver the ball . When he gains confidence he will be fun .
Newton just quietly kills you .
It looked like he was not having a great night but then you look at his stats .
I haven’t been to Storrs in over 20 years . It’s changed .

 

[JustbrewitMan]

P

Karaban Power increase was noticeable he is a strong kid
He also exudes confidence
and has a quiet swagger that the other kids feed off .
Sampson has to use his feet on D more and with that length and and athletic ability could become that second elite rim protector .
We don’t have that elite perimeter defender so rim protection could be important .
Clingan could have named his point total but Hurley played him in spurts
The kids aren‘t shy they made some mistakes but that’s how you get better . Castle is one of those guys that the game seems to be in slow motion for that enables him to see things and deliver the ball . When he gains confidence he will be fun .
Newton just quietly kills you .
It looked like he was not having a great night but then you look at his stats .
I haven’t been to Storrs in over 20 years . It’s changed .

The campus is absolutely gorgeous and modern now. It was a dump when I was a student there from 1988-1993. I feel blessed that I've gotten to see it evolve as I've worked at UConn since 1998.

 

[Rocktheworld]

The campus is absolutely gorgeous and modern now. It was a dump when I was a student there from 1988-1993. I feel blessed that I've gotten to see it evolve as I've worked at UConn since 1998.

They just need to take care of MSB lol now that Monteith and Arjona are finally going away

I was shocked to see Putnam dining hall completely renovated

 

[gsmooth]

The campus is absolutely gorgeous and modern now. It was a dump when I was a student there from 1988-1993. I feel blessed that I've gotten to see it evolve as I've worked at UConn since 1998.

Oh it's much different from then. I went to high school at E.O. Smith in the mid 90s. I wish they had Storrs Central when I was in high school. Hillside Road was much different from the 80s and 90s.

 

[Palatine]

SJ just needs more minutes. He really explodes off the floor. His ability to jump hit the ground and leap again is really impressive. Not the least bit worried about him.

 

[Marat]

SJ just needs more minutes. He really explodes off the floor. His ability to jump hit the ground and leap again is really impressive. Not the least bit worried about him.

I was impressed by his athletic pogo stick ability. He should be able to grab some extra offensive rebounds that way. Clearly the best dunker on this year's squad.