Alex Karaban buzzer beater
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Chin Diesel
Power of Love
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Who'd have thunked KEA had the most 3 point attempts per game as a freshmen at UConn over last 30 years.
ctchamps
We are UConn!! 4>1 But 5>>>>1 is even better!
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Alex Karaban probably is the most cerebral basketball player (BB IQ) to put on a UConn uniform. An argument could be made for Nadav, Emeka or Shabazz but I think Alex is ahead of even those three and someday he's going to make big $$ coaching.
He is the second most composed player on this team after Adama and it's very close between these two.
He already shows signs of being clutch. If any player will help Hurley get that close win my money is on Alex.
Most players playing the number of minutes Alex has been playing would be showing signs of fatigue at this juncture of the season. He actually looks fresher now than in January. Why? Because he uses a minimum of movements and energy to accomplish his tasks. He needed more in January because he was going through a learning curve. Film only accomplishes so much. Playing against really good fours (and the BE has a strong contingent of them) gave him the experience to make adjustments to his play to handle them better the second time around and he did it more efficiently. The kid is an amazingly quick learner.
And he has become the floor general for this team. Not since KEA has a freshman been the floor general.
He is the second most composed player on this team after Adama and it's very close between these two.
He already shows signs of being clutch. If any player will help Hurley get that close win my money is on Alex.
Most players playing the number of minutes Alex has been playing would be showing signs of fatigue at this juncture of the season. He actually looks fresher now than in January. Why? Because he uses a minimum of movements and energy to accomplish his tasks. He needed more in January because he was going through a learning curve. Film only accomplishes so much. Playing against really good fours (and the BE has a strong contingent of them) gave him the experience to make adjustments to his play to handle them better the second time around and he did it more efficiently. The kid is an amazingly quick learner.
And he has become the floor general for this team. Not since KEA has a freshman been the floor general.
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Rashad played 400 less minutes than the next guy on that list. He still has about the same number of attempts or more than seven guys. As JC said, he loves to shoot.
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Rashad was so clutch. But that's pretty much ALL he did. Catch and shoot. Am I wrong??
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Jackson has the work ethic and passion of Hurley; he's go-go-go all the time. You want that. BUT, as we've seen, sometimes that passion costs us needless points and then the team a needless loss. Jackson was pissed with the physicality allowed on one side but not the other. Could have escalated. Good thing for Karaban, who doesn't seem to get rattled.
You want all of these things. Hawkins, for instance, just looked furious all game. A combination of these types of players is exactly what the doctor ordered. They keep the team in balance.
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I couldn't believe he didn't get his feet behind the line. /s
Yep, certainly Niels vibes already. Hard for guards to play a 6’8” shooter
We seem to have it all and I’m starting to “feel if”. No limit to what we can accomplish this season.
I had posted about the lack of screens during our losing streak and you can see the benefits of setting GOOD screens.
We have guys that can shoot. We need to give them a little space to get the shot off.
What a game last night!
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I completely agree and posted this in a post about a month ago...very similar body build, size, moves and shots. If AK continues to grow in his skills, he will be at least as good, if not better!
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Amazing company to be compared with!
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I would add Kemba and Doron to the list of cerebral players. Kemba was a force of nature, but he was smart.
One of the reasons I'm excited about Castle & company next year. Castle is suppose to be very smart on the court from everything I've read and seen about him. Have a friend who has been following him and he is already calling him Doomsday because he says opponents can't beat him the same way twice. Says he's very quick to correct mistakes and weaknesses and read an article about the McDonald's rosters that basically said the samething.
Still, I love Karaban and his IQ. Don't sleep on Clingan's b-ball IQ either.
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He hit that shot look we should be running more plays like that for him
I noticed that too. He and AJax are high IQ players that can see plays about 2 steps ahead.I’m hoping by the end of this year his beard length is ZZ Top length!
Has anyone noticed during the time he’s on the floor he’s directing the players and they’re following his direction!
He did but he was the perfect compliment to Ben Gordon who had exceptional shot creation and one on one skills and Okafor who was a force in the paint and could hit 10-15 footers, too.in 2004 Calhoun replaced Denham Brown with Radha d in the startin line up and the team really improved with that change
Huskyforlife
Akokbouk
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We all love Alex, but I can’t agree with this take. You’re a year early imo.
Niels averaged 8-4-1 on 69(nice)% true shooting, and was a better defensive player. The 4th best player on a national championship team, which is something I feel you’re massively under appreciating.
Alex averaged 10-4-2 on 60% true shooting, and was targeted on defense for at least half the season. He was arguably the 3rd or 4th best player, depending on where you’d place him and Jackson. But I’d argue Jackson was more impactful overall. The minutes situation is also a bit misleading, because of Samsons injury, and how desperately we needed spacing for our inside out game. But similarly to arguments I’ve made about Hawkins/Sanogos legacy, let’s see if this March/April can change the way we look at everyone on this team.
I really, really think people don’t remember how fantastic Giffey was in his role. Assuming Alex takes on a huge offensive burden next season, he’ll surpass Giffey because of how much harder that role is, but as 3nD guys, give me senior Giffey over everybody.
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He`ll be in the discusssion for cpoy at some point in the next 3 years. I think hes going to finish as an all time Husky. Hes going to be one of those super rare 4 year players thats an all american. I really believe in that kid and its good to see his defense has actually improved. Still a ways to go but improvement is there.
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Coach on the floor. We all know how lucky we are as UCONN fans.
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I wanted to support one of our guys and feed my teenage son’s rabid fandom, so I purchased a personalized NIL video from Alex to my son. The back-and-forth interactions I had with Alex really showed me just how mature and impressive he is. This entire team is full of high-character young men. How could you not love this group?