Aidan Mahaney

[GHSWolverines]

Karaban? Irish? His parents first names are Alexi and Olga...

He is ukranian

 

[ec33]

The projection game seems to be popular with half the posters. Even knowing the roster next year(we don’t) a few axioms apply to ruin the projection game

Amazing that no one is improving let alone making a leap. Our staff is terrible - can't identify hidden talent or develop players.

 

[uconn_jack]

I really hate how so many chase the shiny new objects in the transfer portal rather than have some faith in the talented players that have been on the team for a year and understand the system. We talk about culture and player development, but too many here seem to want to rely on transfers to build the team, despite having three 4-star sophomores that have played in practice against some of the best players in the country and coached by some of the best coaches in the country. Yet so many of you are convinced we need transfers to come in and start over them (some even including Stewart). Yes, we needed another center since Singare is too raw, and McNeeley is a no brainer, but beyond that, I think we only need a backup point guard behind Hass and Nowell who can handle and pass the ball, defend, and has scoring potential to keep defenses honest.

If Karaban stays and we get McNeeley, we have an 9-man deep team of Hass, Karaban, McNeeley, Stewart, Nowell, Johnson, Ball, Reed, and Ross. We also have Abraham and Singare waiting a turn. Adding a backup ball handler is all we really need. Yes, the beginning of the season might be a little bumpy in spots, but I have confidence in our sophs to make a jump, and think by the regular season we would be a top 10 team, maybe top 5 by March.

Even if we lose Karaban, I don't think that should change the calculus, you aren't going to get a direct replacement for him from the portal, McNeeley already would be that best replacement. Now if we lose Karaban and don't get McNeeley, then yes, we would need another impact portal transfer.

 

[navery12]

I really hate how so many chase the shiny new objects in the transfer portal rather than have some faith in the talented players that have been on the team for a year and understand the system. We talk about culture and player development, but too many here seem to want to rely on transfers to build the team, despite having three 4-star sophomores that have played in practice against some of the best players in the country and coached by some of the best coaches in the country. Yet so many of you are convinced we need transfers to come in and start over them (some even including Stewart). Yes, we needed another center since Singare is too raw, and McNeeley is a no brainer, but beyond that, I think we only need a backup point guard behind Hass and Nowell who can handle and pass the ball, defend, and has scoring potential to keep defenses honest.

If Karaban stays and we get McNeeley, we have an 9-man deep team of Hass, Karaban, McNeeley, Stewart, Nowell, Johnson, Ball, Reed, and Ross. We also have Abraham and Singare waiting a turn. Adding a backup ball handler is all we really need. Yes, the beginning of the season might be a little bumpy in spots, but I have confidence in our sophs to make a jump, and think by the regular season we would be a top 10 team, maybe top 5 by March.

Even if we lose Karaban, I don't think that should change the calculus, you aren't going to get a direct replacement for him from the portal, McNeeley already would be that best replacement. Now if we lose Karaban and don't get McNeeley, then yes, we would need another impact portal transfer.

This type of logic is how you end up with mediocre teams. Imagine if we didn't bring in Tristen Newton because we wanted to hand the keys to Rahsool Diggins and Jalen Gaffney? Or if we didn't bring in Cam Spencer because we had some freshman wings on the roster?

I agree that the returning guys like Ball and Stewart should and will get their chance, but there's nothing wrong with surrounding those guys with talented transfers who buy into the system as well. It's won us back to back championships

 

[bjc42]

This type of logic is how you end up with mediocre teams. Imagine if we didn't bring in Tristen Newton because we wanted to hand the keys to Rahsool Diggins and Jalen Gaffney? Or if we didn't bring in Cam Spencer because we had some freshman wings on the roster?

I agree that the returning guys like Ball and Stewart should and will get their chance, but there's nothing wrong with surrounding those guys with talented transfers who buy into the system as well. It's won us back to back championships.

I agree 100%. We are losing a ton of talent and we have shown that adding impactful portal players that fit in the system to go along with what we already have is the way to win.

 

[AllHusky]

Once again, competitors compete. Ross Ball and Stewart will compete for their minutes as well as the newcomers. I’m guessing Samson plans on Starting as does Reed. Up and down the roster the kids plan on them being next. Just because some BY guy says they are only getting 3 minutes doesn’t mean jack to them. They are all in it to win it

 

[Karmacop]

I really hate how so many chase the shiny new objects in the transfer portal rather than have some faith in the talented players that have been on the team for a year and understand the system. We talk about culture and player development, but too many here seem to want to rely on transfers to build the team, despite having three 4-star sophomores that have played in practice against some of the best players in the country and coached by some of the best coaches in the country. Yet so many of you are convinced we need transfers to come in and start over them (some even including Stewart). Yes, we needed another center since Singare is too raw, and McNeeley is a no brainer, but beyond that, I think we only need a backup point guard behind Hass and Nowell who can handle and pass the ball, defend, and has scoring potential to keep defenses honest.

If Karaban stays and we get McNeeley, we have an 9-man deep team of Hass, Karaban, McNeeley, Stewart, Nowell, Johnson, Ball, Reed, and Ross. We also have Abraham and Singare waiting a turn. Adding a backup ball handler is all we really need. Yes, the beginning of the season might be a little bumpy in spots, but I have confidence in our sophs to make a jump, and think by the regular season we would be a top 10 team, maybe top 5 by March.

Even if we lose Karaban, I don't think that should change the calculus, you aren't going to get a direct replacement for him from the portal, McNeeley already would be that best replacement. Now if we lose Karaban and don't get McNeeley, then yes, we would need another impact portal transfer.

I think this is made tougher because this is the first year for UConn where we've got a large freshman class combined with the portal era.

Up to this point, it's been hard to argue that the portal hasn't directly led to championships. Joey C, Diarra, Newton, Cam, even Alleyne, have all been abolsutely necessary to winning. And so naturally, fans want that portal success repeated.

But on the flip side, we've now got four freshmen about to become sophmores, where they all (to varying degrees) should take a step up in production. The problem is (for us fans at least) we have NO IDEA how many of these freshmen might progress to the point where they would outperform some of these portal transfers like Brea, Mahaney, etc. I'm sure the staff has a much better idea, but even with them there will likely be some uncertainty until practice starts in earnest in the fall.

Relying on the sophomore leap and passing on quality players in the portal is inherently risky, which is why there is a bias in favor of these transfers -- they've already proven they belong and have the skills to contribute.

I guess I'd say if Hurley and co. are recruiting another guard, I'd trust them to know that another guard is needed and that Ball and Nowell are not quite ready for the big time yet. Same with McNeeley vs. Ross.

Also, quick point, but McNeeley gets lumped into this discussion, but he's not a portal transfer. He's a true freshmen like Nowell and Abraham, and should be talked about as such.

 

[JT-55]

I really hate how so many chase the shiny new objects in the transfer portal rather than have some faith in the talented players that have been on the team for a year and understand the system. We talk about culture and player development, but too many here seem to want to rely on transfers to build the team, despite having three 4-star sophomores that have played in practice against some of the best players in the country and coached by some of the best coaches in the country. Yet so many of you are convinced we need transfers to come in and start over them (some even including Stewart). Yes, we needed another center since Singare is too raw, and McNeeley is a no brainer, but beyond that, I think we only need a backup point guard behind Hass and Nowell who can handle and pass the ball, defend, and has scoring potential to keep defenses honest.

If Karaban stays and we get McNeeley, we have an 9-man deep team of Hass, Karaban, McNeeley, Stewart, Nowell, Johnson, Ball, Reed, and Ross. We also have Abraham and Singare waiting a turn. Adding a backup ball handler is all we really need. Yes, the beginning of the season might be a little bumpy in spots, but I have confidence in our sophs to make a jump, and think by the regular season we would be a top 10 team, maybe top 5 by March.

Even if we lose Karaban, I don't think that should change the calculus, you aren't going to get a direct replacement for him from the portal, McNeeley already would be that best replacement. Now if we lose Karaban and don't get McNeeley, then yes, we would need another impact portal transfer.

This is a very fair and basically algins with what Hurley has been saying about the portal. You have to develop your younger players and add strategically in the portal. This is the best way to build stability year after year.

 

[gtcam]

You’re discounting player development. Did you know Jordan Hawkins would go on to be the best SG in the country one year after averaging 5ppg on 35% shooting with 14mpg? Diarra, Ball, Stewart, and Samson will not be the same players we saw last year. Newton, Hawkins, and Karaban weren’t proven starters on a top 3 UConn team of all-time just a year ago. They worked out okay.

Most definitely

 

[UCfor3]

Once again our fanbase is afraid of adding talent and obsessed with stressing about our roster and who gets minutes. Our staff just put together two championship rosters and have WAY more info than anyone else. They have proven they have a black belt in this stuff. Let them cook and sit back and enjoy the show. This is the most stress free time I can ever remember being a UConn fan and I was watching the Dom Perno teams.

 

[bendm]

Why not just wait until we have our roster?

analyzing and debating every potential iteration helps pass the time until october

 

[gtcam]

This is a very fair and basically algins with what Hurley has been saying about the portal. You have to develop your younger players and add strategically in the portal. This is the best way to build stability year after year.

Most coaches are instant gratification people.
I coached almost 30 years and if I had a portal to poach experienced players I would do that all day. But someday this just may go away and it is important to have young men out of HS/Preps that you can cultivate and make sure they understand your coaching philosophy, have the ability and desire to fit in without being disruptive. A danger comes with getting that experienced college kid who has only one year to play under you and you stick him in an important role only to discover he has behavioral issues at worst or doesn't buy in after the season has started.
So far, DH has approached the portal at an extremely high level (probably the best in the nation) but not as positive about some of his decisions concerning various youngsters coming in as freshmen and their status with the team going into the next season.
I am aware that the portal may have some implications on my statement about the freshmen but still feel a bit concerned.

 

[dennismenace]

we're projecting an 8 or 9 man rotation including the 2 or 3 guys we are currently linked with. i dont think Ross or Singare would crack it and i dont include Abraham either.

Out of the practices come the minutes. As stated above their will be injuries in some form or other so
need replacements or make-up minutes so more bodies. Just to have good practices which are fundamental to a Hurley team you need quality of 10 plus substitutes. A real question I think is will we try for more transition ball next year (more running, more substitution = more depth in rotation)? Last year we had Clingan for quality points in the paint and ability to use him as either a passer or receiver/scorer. We also got paint points from Johnson at times. We will probably not be as strong there next year. Need will be for better 3 ball shooting and rim attackers as well as more transition. We seem to be stockpiling good lockdown defenders (recruits) and depth for a running game.

 

[Mr. Wonderful]

With Karaban, Murray, Hurley, Calhoun floating around….are we approaching too much Irish?

No such thing

 

[dennismenace]

This same thing happened with Whaley, whom a lot of folks on here had transferring to a low major program halfway through his sophomore year. Players have athletic gifts and are perfectly capable of developing skills that can take advantage of those gifts by doing the work. In Whaley's case it was a sharp BBIQ particularly on D, quick hands and feet for the hedge, a desire to block shots and great timing.

Singare has some attributes that can make him someone who can contribute next year if necessary. Yes, he's raw. Is he ahead of Reed Jr. or Johnson on the depth chart? No. Could he make himself a player who earns minutes? We'll see.

Good example with Whaley. Diara had some great improvement apparently working a lot with Kimani Young over the summer. Hoping the summer again becomes a crucible where leaders emerge by example and coaches find some very willing guys to work hard at development. The standards for maintaining intensity and hard work are at a very high level here. Really looking forward to how this cast gets it together after seeing the results from the last two teams success.

 

[rip7774]

How does NIL compare to what you make in Europe for a guy like Hass?

@NJHusky We had some kids we mentored a few years back that had tough experiences. One was in a French pro league that abruptly cut him for no reason, played In a few countries Before giving up and becoming a college assistant and now works for the Clips.

another plays in turkey now, neither was getting rich. I would bet NIL for a guy like Diarra is more.

A HUGE issue for these kids is there is a lot of politics involved w playing time. Like PT disappeared for one when a guy came back from injury who wasn’t even very good. The teams will play inferior home grown players over them often.

 

[Ricker]

Hass played 4 minutes total in the final four 1 year ago... it became an 8 man rotation, which is where hurley seems to land. He always talks about expanding bench, but it doesnt happen

clearly if there are injuries we will go deeper than 8

Talk about changing the goal posts to prove a point. @boog204 originally said he settles on an 8 man rotation by the start of Big East and then you seek to prove the point by stating how many minutes Diarra played in the Final Four.

For the season
Alleyne 39 GP 17.9min
Joey 38GP 14.5min
Clingan 39GP 13.1min
Diarra 36GP 12.7min

Guess what, that's a 9 man season long rotation that he shortened to go with the hot hand or matchups in the final four.

 

[navery12]

Talk about changing the goal posts to prove a point. @boog204 originally said he settles on an 8 man rotation by the start of Big East and then you seek to prove the point by stating how many minutes Diarra played in the Final Four.

For the season
Alleyne 39 GP 17.9min
Joey 38GP 14.5min
Clingan 39GP 13.1min
Diarra 36GP 12.7min

Guess what, that's a 9 man season long rotation that he shortened to go with the hot hand or matchups in the final four.

It was shortened by early in Big East play. You definitely need at least 10 competent players because of injuries and foul trouble, but in a given game Hurley was still rarely going past 8 for any real minutes. It evened up over the season for guys like Calcaterra, Alleyne, and Diarra but they all had stretches where their minutes were being cut in favor of the other 2

 

[JungleLobo]

He is ukranian

LOL O’Karaban and McKlingKong

 

[uconn_jack]

I think this is made tougher because this is the first year for UConn where we've got a large freshman class combined with the portal era.

Up to this point, it's been hard to argue that the portal hasn't directly led to championships. Joey C, Diarra, Newton, Cam, even Alleyne, have all been abolsutely necessary to winning. And so naturally, fans want that portal success repeated.

But on the flip side, we've now got four freshmen about to become sophmores, where they all (to varying degrees) should take a step up in production. The problem is (for us fans at least) we have NO IDEA how many of these freshmen might progress to the point where they would outperform some of these portal transfers like Brea, Mahaney, etc. I'm sure the staff has a much better idea, but even with them there will likely be some uncertainty until practice starts in earnest in the fall.

Relying on the sophomore leap and passing on quality players in the portal is inherently risky, which is why there is a bias in favor of these transfers -- they've already proven they belong and have the skills to contribute.

I guess I'd say if Hurley and co. are recruiting another guard, I'd trust them to know that another guard is needed and that Ball and Nowell are not quite ready for the big time yet. Same with McNeeley vs. Ross.

Also, quick point, but McNeeley gets lumped into this discussion, but he's not a portal transfer. He's a true freshmen like Nowell and Abraham, and should be talked about as such.

Comparing our portal adds the last two seasons is apples and oranges to our situation this coming year.

For 22/23, Floyd and Diggins bailed, Gaffney wasn't really cut out for the new offensive Hurley was moving toward and probably nudged out, and Cole decided not to use his last year, so we were left with a big hole at PG and no bench. Plus Akok moved on. We had to pick up some transfers, but only one of which (Newton) was a starter, with the rest just depth pieces (Joey, Alleyne, and Hass), but otherwise our traditional recruits started and were the core of the team.

This last year, we had a great freshman class, but none other than Castle were ready for big minutes. So with Hawkins and Andre going to the NBA, we did need a strategic portal addition at guard so we brought in Cam (after Timberlake thankfully didn't work out).

This coming year, assuming Karaban stays, we have a battle tested core of Karaban, Hass, and Johnson. You can probably include Stewart in there too. Then we have two other talented sophomores in Ball and Ross, and newcomers Nowell and hopefully McNeeley, both of which will be in the mix from day one. We then added the depth we needed at center with a transfer Reed. I don't understand why people look at this and don't see a deep quality team, and feel that we need to add more transfers (other than a depth ball handler piece). Yes we need to have some faith that Stewart continues his ascent and that Ball and Ross make an good jump, but I think that is all likely, at least as likely as transfer fitting right into our system and being what we want them to be.

Lets face it, we have been lucky with the transfers we've brought in, especially Newton and Cam. Granted credit goes to the coaching staff for identifying players who work and buy into in our system, but they also wanted Timberlake which if we got and didn't bring Cam in, I do not think we would have been a top 5 team and winning the championship this year. You could argue he would have been different/better coached up here, and maybe that's true, but based on what I saw of him this year for Kansas, I don't really think so. Transfers are not a sure thing, even for our coaching staff. And remember, the coaching staff recruited and brought in our freshmen because they saw something in them and coached them all year long. I have as much faith that they'll step up as much as some of the transfers we are looking at.

I am absolutely not against bringing in transfers when it makes sense, we have used the portal well, but the grass is not always greener there
.

 

[AllHusky]

Once again our fanbase is afraid of adding talent and obsessed with stressing about our roster and who gets minutes. Our staff just put together two championship rosters and have WAY more info than anyone else. They have proven they have a black belt in this stuff. Let them cook and sit back and enjoy the show. This is the most stress free time I can ever remember being a UConn fan and I was watching the Dom Perno teams.

Absolutely!!

 

[david]

This coming year, assuming Karaban stays, we have a battle tested core of Karaban, Hass, and Johnson. You can probably include Stewart in there too. Then we have two other talented sophomores in Ball and Ross, and newcomers Nowell and hopefully McNeeley, both of which will be in the mix from day one. We then added the depth we needed at center with a transfer Reed. I don't understand why people look at this and don't see a deep quality team, and feel that we need to add more transfers (other than a depth ball handler piece). Yes we need to have some faith that Stewart continues his ascent and that Ball and Ross make an good jump, but I think that is all likely, at least as likely as transfer fitting right into our system and being what we want them to be.

Which transfer targets do you have a gripe with specifically? We have available scholarships that we need to use and Mahaney seems like exactly what you want - another ball handler that adds depth to the backcourt. Brea was the best shooter in the country last year, wouldn’t his addition help the team? Who do you want us to get with the final scholarships?

 

[Pmurph678]

Unwritten Boneyard rule, when discussing next years roster you must exclude either Ross or Abraham

 

[Matt1010]

It was shortened by early in Big East play. You definitely need at least 10 competent players because of injuries and foul trouble, but in a given game Hurley was still rarely going past 8 for any real minutes. It evened up over the season for guys like Calcaterra, Alleyne, and Diarra but they all had stretches where their minutes were being cut in favor of the other 2

Those 3 guys averaged 15, 13, and 11 mpg in conference play. Hurley definitely shifted things around based on matchups/who was playing the best but overall is was definitely a 9 man rotation until Hass got trimmed out in the NCAA tournament.

 

[Fan1978]

Unwritten Boneyard rule, when discussing next years roster you must exclude either Ross or Abraham

Not everyone gets minutes as underclassmen. Worked okay for whaley and samson. Goal is to win now and overcome p5 bias. Get best now, will never have a stronger hand, unless 3 peat