Aidan Mahaney says he would choose UConn again despite disappointing year | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Aidan Mahaney says he would choose UConn again despite disappointing year

UCTitleTown said:
I've always thought Dan Hurley saw himself in AM.
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The comparison of added ridiculously unhelpful cheap shots (a lot of Seton Hall fans versus some UConn fans and some program adjacent UConn people) seems similar. I’m not talking about deserved critiques but stuff that crosses a line. I think it’s more Jaylin and Jayden that he sees himself in so far. Danny had a respectable but not spectacular Big East career and always struggled to bring what he did in practice to games in a more consistent manner. If he had some of the mental supports and insights back then that he does now, it probably would have helped, but it was a different time.

Aidan could have said nothing, so I credit him for being able to see the big picture in all this. He appreciates a lot do the relationships he made in Storrs, and I’ll be rooting for him.
 
HooperScooper said:
Would love to know what each said to each other at their end of the season meeting.
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Whatever was said, I don't think it was a surprise. I suspect that Hurley is pretty transparent with players, given his own struggles in his playing history. I do think there was probably discussion of what the staff was looking to bring in during the off-season. Mahaney Undoubtedly understood that his season was less successful. Then both he and the staff had hoped.

I'm glad he values his experience here. He never seemed to quit and never complained, even though his envision role didn't work out. That's a quality kid. I wish him all the luck in the world as he finishes up his college career.
 
NJHoops said:
Danny had a respectable but not spectacular Big East career and always struggled to bring what he did in practice to games in a more consistent manner.
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I feel like that's a little understated. As an upperclassman, Hurley was good for about 14 points and 5 assists per game. If we get that from Demary, everyone here will be justifiably singing his praises.
 
Think it was simple misfit based on thinking he could be a PG and I don’t blame Hurley. After watching the kid a lot at StMarys I would have agreed. Real nice player that many high majors wanted to deliver to their fans. Wish it worked and think he’s much better than we saw. Hope USCB gets that and more!
 
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CL82 said:
I feel like that's a little understated. As an upperclassman, Hurley was good for about 14 points and 5 assists per game. If we get that from Demary, everyone here will be justifiably singing his praises.
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He’s my guy. I’m trying to play it cool so I don’t get the eye rolling, here she goes again blowback.
 
mauconnfan said:
Think it was simple misfit based on thinking he could be a PG and I don’t blame Hurley. After watching the kid a lot at StMarys I would have agreed. Real nice player that many high majors wanted to deliver to their fans. Wish it worked and think he’s much better than we saw. Hope USCB gets that and more!
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it was a misfit, period. He couldn't guard anyone, and that was evident in the StM tape against athletic teams. Someone that can't defend athletic guards has to be ridiculously good offensively. This is the part that I still can't wrap my head around. I'm sure the staff knew Solo wasn't a great defender, and Liam wasn't going to come in playing great defense. Samson certainly isn't imposing much inside and AK is a slow footed guy. Why in the world did they think a non-athletic PG convert was the right defensive compliment to that roster?
 
RuffRuff said:
it was a misfit, period. He couldn't guard anyone, and that was evident in the StM tape against athletic teams. Someone that can't defend athletic guards has to be ridiculously good offensively. This is the part that I still can't wrap my head around. I'm sure the staff knew Solo wasn't a great defender, and Liam wasn't going to come in playing great defense. Samson certainly isn't imposing much inside and AK is a slow footed guy. Why in the world did they think a non-athletic PG convert was the right defensive compliment to that roster?
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That’s a very good point and add an injured Diarra to this yikes. Agree for sure looking at it that way!
 
mauconnfan said:
That’s a very good point and add an injured Diarra to this yikes. Agree for sure looking at it that way!
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I’ll always be disappointed that we got an injured and physically diminished Diarra in his last year. He was a warrior out there and never complained, but he deserved better.
 
gsmooth said:
You guys only know part of it. When I was at the Maui Invitational, you could see everything up close and personal-believe me it's a small gym. I was sitting 5 rows behind the ESPN announcers in the game against Memphis and near the UConn bench against Colorado and Dayton. I saw Aidan's facial expression when he was sitting on the bench and through the end-of-game handshake line and it was very evident he was hurting emotionally. I felt horrible for him and this went beyond basketball for me. I know the facial expression Aidan was showing it was that of a person that completely lost their confidence and was demoralized. I am sure you guys have seen the facial expression on someone when they screw up a big project at work or school or fails miserably at a test they so badly wanted to ace.

Remember, he lost his starting job after the Memphis game and barely played in the Maui Invitational after the first of half of the Memphis game. While me, my wife, and everyone there was having fun and enjoying the beautiful paradise despite UConn going 0-3, I saw a guy in Aidan that wanted to get the hell off of that rock as quickly as possible.
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Used to call this bad body language.
 
NJHoops said:
I’ll always be disappointed that we got an injured and physically diminished Diarra in his last year. He was a warrior out there and never complained, but he deserved better.
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Given a chronic thing, I’d have to think the staff knew the potential for aggravation in an extended minutes role.

The player they needed was a physical & natural on-ball guy with some PG skills, like a Demary. There were a lot of options better than Mahaney, that I know. What furthers the puzzle is the only other option they looked at was a stiff spot up shooter. Just a really lazy process.

Look in the BE alone at who could have been a better fit, Neal from Creighton, Richmond, Poplar from Nova. Not perfect but big physical guards who could put the ball on the floor.
 
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RuffRuff said:
Given a chronic thing, I’d have to think the staff knew the potential for aggravation in an extended minutes role.

The player they needed was a physical & natural on-ball guy with some PG skills, like a Demary. There were a lot of options better than Mahaney, that I know. What furthers the puzzle is the only other option they looked at was a stiff spot up shooter. Just a really lazy process.

Look in the BE alone at who could have been a better fit, Neal from Creighton, Richmond, Poplar from Nova. Not perfect but big physical guards who could put the ball on the floor.
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Our coaches travel to see recruits play high school games; during the season/post-season they play teams and see college players playing against us who they can evaluate during the game as a scout. So then some get offers when the enter the portal.

Seems to work out better on balance since other than Mahaney no one leaps to mind as a bad fit and we all feel good about this years transfer ins.
 
Lafayette said:
Our coaches travel to see recruits play high school games; during the season/post-season they play teams and see college players playing against us who they can evaluate during the game as a scout. So then some get offers when the enter the portal.

Seems to work out better on balance since other than Mahaney no one leaps to mind as a bad fit and we all feel good about this years transfer ins.
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What makes it even wilder, that they’ve been so good otherwise (although losing Timberlake may have helped).
 
NJHoops said:
The comparison of added ridiculously unhelpful cheap shots (a lot of Seton Hall fans versus some UConn fans and some program adjacent UConn people) seems similar. I’m not talking about deserved critiques but stuff that crosses a line. I think it’s more Jaylin and Jayden that he sees himself in so far. Danny had a respectable but not spectacular Big East career and always struggled to bring what he did in practice to games in a more consistent manner. If he had some of the mental supports and insights back then that he does now, it probably would have helped, but it was a different time.

Aidan could have said nothing, so I credit him for being able to see the big picture in all this. He appreciates a lot do the relationships he made in Storrs, and I’ll be rooting for him.
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Not sure of your post is a shot at me or not. Either way, I'll give it a pass. When I said he saw himself in AM, I meant undersized Irish-Catholic kid with something to prove. That's all I meant.
 
glastonbury50 said:
Used to call this bad body language.
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Sure body language, but I am being more specific. Bad body language could mean the person is being an angry hot head or being a bad cancerous teammate, which doesn't apply to Aidan. He not only had the slumped shoulders, but he looked really sad and despondent. He was being benched for underperforming and ineffective play and sadly knew that reality and he knew he couldn't argue it .
 
UCTitleTown said:
Not sure of your post is a shot at me or not. Either way, I'll give it a pass. When I said he saw himself in AM, I meant undersized Irish-Catholic kid with something to prove. That's all I meant.
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Not a shot at all. I’m not sure how you got that out of it.
 
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Suffice it to say, if he didn't have those 2 10 second/over and back violations last year, we might have felt a smidge better about him. Probably did more to damage his confidence than any other action, and I'm sure that was a cardinal sin under Hurley.
 
HooperScooper said:
Can you blame him for being miserable? But he never said a bad word and we never saw him be a bad teammate.
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What a class act.

II liked the way he ended the season and while it didn’t always show up on the stat sheet, he got more dependable and hit some nice shots.

I think he just didn’t fit in with the system no good #2 option for ball handling - lots of pressure on the PG, and not in his game.

I was actually hoping to see him stick around but 100% get why he left.
 
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