Alex Karaban …..

[August_West]

….. is our best player this season. The jury is in.

 

[UConnSwag11]

….. is our best player this season. The jury is in.

I’d say Clignan. Karaban is 1B

 

[August_West]

I’d say Clignan. Karaban is 1B

Close but not yet. Alex is almost tripling him in minutes. Consistency on big minutes counts for a ton here. No doubt that it could be Donovan with more minutes though.

 

[Umami Zen]

Nice assist from DC to AK on back door cut.. Glad we have them both.. Game vs X we'll need them to bring their A game.. I'm sure they will.

 

[superjohn]

Close but not yet. Alex is almost tripling him in minutes. Consistency on big minutes counts for a ton here. No doubt that it could be Donovan with more minutes though.

Karaban is great but he's had nobody to fight with for minutes all season. Clingan's numbers would be outrageous if he played 30 minutes per game.

 

[LIuconn]

A good discussion considering they’re both freshman. Bright future

 

[August_West]

Karaban is great but he's had nobody to fight with for minutes all season. Clingan's numbers would be outrageous if he played 30 minutes per game.

I would like to see Clingan averaging 20 plus. We would be better. I agree.

 

[Huskyforlife]

Alex and Donovan get the benefit of having their offense created for them. Guys like Newton/Hawkins/Sanogo/Jackson have to create their own shot, or a shot for others. It’s much harder to do the latter. But Alex and Donovan are very good shot makers in their roles.

 

[Dove]

Alex Karaban would crush that Texas steak- eating challenge every time he entered.

 

[superjohn]

I would like to see Clingan averaging 20 plus. We would be better. I agree.

I'm really interested in what happens if Samson looks good and ready. You'll have a great rotation of 4 bigs with Sanogo, Karaban, Clingan, and Samson but how do you work that rotation and juggle those minutes. I love having real depth but it's also important to have a set rotation as you head towards postseason play, good problem to have though.

Wednesday's game kind of feels like it will tell us if this is still a team that can do major damage and go on some sort of a run or if the season will be disappointing. Never want to put too much importance on a regular season game but that's how it feels to me.

 

[August_West]

Alex and Donovan get the benefit of having their offense created for them. Guys like Newton/Hawkins/Sanogo/Jackson have to create their own shot, or a shot for others. It’s much harder to do the latter. But Alex and Donovan are very good shot makers in their roles.

Alex can’t really create his own shot, true, but he absolutely creates shots for others.including three you mentioned.

 

[Thirty Three]

He’s a really underrated freshman, and with all the minutes he gets he’s getting tons of experience early in his college career. He’s one of the most productive freshman we’ve had in a while. Besides scoring he also moves very well without the ball and really understands the game. I’d like to see him gain some muscle and work on his defense. He may not have the highest ceiling, but he’s going to be really, really good for UConn (likely for four years).

 

[SteelCT]

Adama should not need to create his own shot as much this season as he has in the past and is better when he doesnt. Hawk also rarely creates on his own…

 

[superjohn]

Alex and Donovan get the benefit of having their offense created for them. Guys like Newton/Hawkins/Sanogo/Jackson have to create their own shot, or a shot for others. It’s much harder to do the latter. But Alex and Donovan are very good shot makers in their roles.

I'm a big fan of players who know their role and do it really well.

 

[wheelerdog]

….. is our best player this season. The jury is in.

Best? I don't know. Most consistent? Definitely.

 

[superjohn]

Adama should not need to create his own shot as much this season as he has in the past and is better when he doesnt. Hawk also rarely creates on his own…

Yep and Jackson is incapable of creating his own offense.

 

[Huskyforlife]

Alex can’t really create his own shot, true, but he absolutely creates shots for others.including three you mentioned.

His post entry stuff is good. But he’s not doing much else in the realm of creation consistently. I’m looking forward to sophomore jacked Alex showing off that post/driving ability he had in high school. But I don’t think we run enough through him yet to say he’s our best player, especially with the defensive struggles.

 

[HuskyFich]

His defense has made this narrative come to life.

He’s no longer a major liability on that side of the floor.

Kudos to the coaching staff for figuring it out With him so quickly.

 

[August_West]

Best? I don't know. Most consistent? Definitely.

At this point of year almost to February with our team’s mercurial highs and lows I consider consistent=best.

That’s my main thrust here.

 

[HuskyHawk]

At this point of year almost to February with our team’s mercurial highs and lows I consider consistent=best.

That’s my main thrust here.

Most consistent on the offensive end maybe? But the numbers don’t support that. But against good 4s he’s still been a problem on the defensive end, so definitely not our best player. Certainly an encouraging freshman season.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

….. is our best player this season. The jury is in.

My sister's all in...

 

[freshler40]

Alex and Donovan get the benefit of having their offense created for them. Guys like Newton/Hawkins/Sanogo/Jackson have to create their own shot, or a shot for others. It’s much harder to do the latter. But Alex and Donovan are very good shot makers in their roles.

Donovan was a serious factor grabbing rebounds in this game, that hasn't changed even in the defeats we've had. His offense needs to slow down and it should with more court time. We have two great freshmen! What a nice foundation going forward.

 

[August_West]

I'm really interested in what happens if Samson looks good and ready. You'll have a great rotation of 4 bigs with Sanogo, Karaban, Clingan, and Samson but how do you work that rotation and juggle those minutes. I love having real depth but it's also important to have a set rotation as you head towards postseason play, good problem to have though.

Wednesday's game kind of feels like it will tell us if this is still a team that can do major damage and go on some sort of a run or if the season will be disappointing. Never want to put too much importance on a regular season game but that's how it feels to me.

That’s easy, karaban rotates to the 3. and eats alleyne’s ( and a couple other guards through trickle down) minutes. It would just shift the guard rotations. And defensive matchups would dictate.

That being said, I’m skeptical we get real useful minutes out of Johnson this year. If we do though, that’s a good problem to have and easily addressed.

 

[August_West]

Most consistent on the offensive end maybe? But the numbers don’t support that. But against good 4s he’s still been a problem on the defensive end, so definitely not our best player. Certainly an encouraging freshman season.

What numbers you looking at that don’t support it? Only Donovan and Adama have higher shooting % and decent benchmark for 5’s is 60%.

What’s your argument offensively?

 

[InKembaITrust]

Karaban is def a top 3-4 player for us, arguably the most consistent, and has a VERY bright future.

Sanogo is our best player. With all the frustrations these past few weeks we can't lose sight of that. If he didn't draw as much attention as he does he'd easily be averaging 20 pts a game.