Alex Karaban doesnt care what you think | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Alex Karaban doesnt care what you think

Shooters make shots based on skill, mental confidence, and rhythm. Alex is having issues in the confidence department right now. Alex just needs to have a big game to get that confidence back. He is too good a shooter to having this kind of slump.

With McNeeley back and Solo shooting it well, there is less pressure on Alex.

Alex will be fine. He just needs a big shooting game, and he will get back to form.
 
AK has come up big in the past 2 seasons for his UConn team. He is a smart kid and bleeds Husky Blue as much as anyone.
Has this season been a disappointment? For fans, yes for the most part, but I am more concerned for the person AK not the player AK. Ever since he missed those free throws vs Nova his game has gotten away from him. Perhaps its the yips and/or wishing his next 3 pointer rips the nets instead of knowing that those results occur. His shot is off, his form is off and I am speculating that demons are living in his head at this time. It's one of the worst shooting blues I have seen.
We all know what he is capable of, and I pray he gets back to that MOJO. He's too good of a player and person to not shake this off,
All it takes is one 3 to go through the nets and if it doesn't he needs to find his offense elsewhere. As witnessed by his hardnosed D on Kalk in the 2nd half, his desire is still burning.
 
uconngb said:
You people and your coddling. He’s 4 for his last 38. Process that. 4-38. It’s hurting the team.

That does not mean he shouldn’t be playing, we need his other contributions it just means he shouldn’t be shooting 3s.
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Couldn’t disagree more. Until this recent slump he was a 40% career 3 point shooter. Keep shooting Alex.
 
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I don't see the hate. The Yard has pretty hard and fast buckets of posters. The pollyannas who will never admit to anyone doing anything wrong. The people who are solely stat driven and knee jerk game to game. And some are realists. I don't think it's a bad thing to feel like his season has been a struggle and disappointing. He'd be the first to acknowledge that.

Last night, he did a lot of good things outside 3 pters to help us win a huge game. He bleeds blue, maybe more than 99% of the people who came before him in that uniform. And I feel that the one unifying sentiment is us dying for him to make a magical run in the next 6-8 weeks.
 
He needs some more easy buckets like the floaters that went down last night. Hopefully seeing the ball go through the hoop will help with whatever has been going on. Still convinced he’s subconsciously trying too hard to make up for missed Nova free throws but he just needs to let it go and play ball. Easier said than done but he’s still my guy.
 
uconn1999 said:
9 for 50
2 for 26
0 for last 12
I hate how he’s shooting, time to rein in
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Rob D pointed out that when AK missed those 3 3's in a row you can see Dan Hurley on the sideline yelling at him "keep shooting". He said it as AK was beating back on defense after those misses as well "don't stop shooting".
Its hard to watch for sure, but his and Dan Hurley's job is not to make the fans comfortable at home.
 
UConnJim said:
For the first time in a few games, I thought Karaban took really good unrushed 3s and I hoped they would fall, but they didn't.
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Good point. This is the Liam effect, and along with the Solo effect, it should help AK greatly.

Teams started the season game planning for AK and it eventually worked. Marquette found out that Solo Ball must now be "game planned". Although Liam played against St John's, it was his first game back, another break for Pitino (Diarra playing injured being the other). You can see a trend. It will get harder for teams to shut down all 3. It is still a team game. UConn has all the pieces to be a final four team.
 
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Palatine said:
I don't think I have ever seen anything like. it. He has been a 40% three point shooter his entire career. And now he can't throw a ball into the ocean.

He is something like 3-47 from the arc. It's beyond a slump, it's wrath of god kind of stuff. Twilight Zone. Larry Bird used to say if I make one I shoot until I miss and if I miss I shoot until I make one. But there is only one guy who can help Alex. Be nice to see a few go though for him.
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Is he missing in practice like this, too? If not, the problem seems psychological. If he is, it seems more.
 
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Aside from his 3 pt shooting he had a very good game last night. Made his little runners and defended Kalkabrenner very well - better than Reed and Samson. When we went small it opened up the lane for us. He made a great hustle play with about 45 seconds to go. Keep shooting Alex, they will begin to fall and when they do, we will be become a team nobody will want to play.
 
Hurley is trying to get him to shoot his way out of it. It's not working yet and it has been a problem but we need Alex. A good time for him to break out of it and go on a sustained tear would be the 2nd week of March until about the end of April.
 
Jaydumo20 said:
Rob D pointed out that when AK missed those 3 3's in a row you can see Dan Hurley on the sideline yelling at him "keep shooting". He said it as AK was beating back on defense after those misses as well "don't stop shooting".
Its hard to watch for sure, but his and Dan Hurley's job is not to make the fans comfortable at home.
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Thats the thing about Hurley as a culture setter - dude always has your back. Not only does AK know that, but every kid on that roster sees it. It’s why kids are willing to bleed for the guy.

Hurley feels like the little loud, small Irish little brother in the back of the pack who jumps to the front when they confront the bully, and the first one to try to kick his @ss even though he’s outweighed by 100lbs. Unbridled, tribalistic spitfire. Dude you always want on your team.
 
Thread title reminded me of this. I'd say Alex is a great Husky, but evidently he's a cat.

Age.jpeg
 
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Palatine said:
I don't think I have ever seen anything like. it. He has been a 40% three point shooter his entire career. And now he can't throw a ball into the ocean.

He is something like 3-47 from the arc. It's beyond a slump, it's wrath of god kind of stuff. Twilight Zone. Larry Bird used to say if I make one I shoot until I miss and if I miss I shoot until I make one. But there is only one guy who can help Alex. Be nice to see a few go though for him.
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4-37 in last 7 games. It was also quoted he had a bad week of practice shooting 3s too. So he isn't just off in game but in practice too. Maybe something has thrown off his mechanics? All of his 3s were way off last night which is concerning. It isn't like they are half way down and rimming out.
 
jibsey said:
I’m no shot guru but his arc has been flat, or it seems that way. Don’t know how that is fixed mid season.
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Yeah I noticed his shot has been flater than before. It is like he is heaving it a little and not just shooting. Something has thrown off his mechanics.
 
Palatine said:
I don't think I have ever seen anything like. it. He has been a 40% three point shooter his entire career. And now he can't throw a ball into the ocean.

He is something like 3-47 from the arc. It's beyond a slump, it's wrath of god kind of stuff. Twilight Zone. Larry Bird used to say if I make one I shoot until I miss and if I miss I shoot until I make one. But there is only one guy who can help Alex. Be nice to see a few go though for him.
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Shooters shoot. If you are a shooter and you are open you shoot, even if you missed your last 10. Gotta believe the next one is going in.

gotta love the boneyard. AK is 4-37 from three in the last 7 games but on the boneyard he has gone from there to 4-43, then 4-47 and now 3-47.
 
RuffRuff said:
He’s missing free throws in big spots. The only issue here is mental. Can we please stop with all the concussion theories.
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He missed 2 vs Villanova, and front end of a 1and1 last night. And you want him to just go away?
 
uconn1999 said:
9 for 50
2 for 26
0 for last 12
I hate how he’s shooting, time to rein in
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No - we need Karaban if we're going to be successful. Can't always expect McNeeley to drop 38. You don't seem to, but I believe in Karaban and will continue to support him. He'll be back with a vengeance.
 
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He needs to just keep at it. Practice his 3s like crazy in the gym. Work on his mechanics. He's been too good a player the previous 2 years to just not be able to shoot anymore. It's a slump and he'll snap out of it in time.
 
Jaydumo20 said:
In the chat and threads there has been a lot of calls for him to stop shooting. People feeling bad for him. People saying his head is not right or that he lost his nba shot.

He is still shooting when he gets a good look and he wants to go the line at a big moment even if he hadn't been that guy this year from a conversion standpoint. He doesn't care about any of that noise.

We are quick to do this to our favorite guys and it's corny. We did it to AJax, and Hawk, and Hass, and Sanogo, and Joey C etc.

But he keeps shooting. And he should. Because he knows what he can do.

(BTW, he has been doing some great things outside of shooting 3s)

I'm still on that Karavan
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He still needs to keep shooting because it will come back eventually. We need him to make a run in March, so you've gotta have him keep pulling 5+ shots a night from deep.

It's pretty clear his head isn't right and that his shot at the NBA is diminishing by the night, though. No one would be wrong in saying that. TBH I'm happy about it in a way; will hopefully get to see him one more season.
 
Maybe there's something physically wrong, who knows, but shooting is always streaky. We have this discussion every single time a good shooter goes through a slump.
 
husky429 said:
He still needs to keep shooting because it will come back eventually. We need him to make a run in March, so you've gotta have him keep pulling 5+ shots a night from deep.

It's pretty clear his head isn't right and that his shot at the NBA is diminishing by the night, though. No one would be wrong in saying that. TBH I'm happy about it in a way; will hopefully get to see him one more season.
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I think him realizing the NBA is slipping away for next season is part of the reason he's pressing so badly. He was the focal point with Liam out and that was something new for him which he couldn't handle. Now he's just bricking every wide open look from distance and can't even be trusted at the ft line. He's badly in his own head. He's a much better player than this if he would just go back to having fun playing ball.
 
I believe (hope) Alex will find his shot soon, but 11% 3pt shooting over last 7 games is alarming.
 
AK has always been streaky. The extent to how bad the shooting has been is new and the missed clutch ft's is something totally new but he had two 4 game stretches last season where he was 4-24 and 4-22 on three pointers.
 
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