I never said that Castle and Andre are the same type of player. I said Newton and the UConn offense was less effective last year when Andre dominated the ball, and Newton and the UConn offense is less effective this year when Castle is dominating the ball. The team’s offense is much more fluid when Newton is in charge
As someone else said, Castle is a plus player. There is no doubt about that. But if you really objectively watch Castle in offensive sets, he’s the only one on the floor that doesn’t seem to know what to do. He’s not moving around cutting or running around screens. Occasionally he tries to set a screen, but he’s not very good at it. Otherwise he just stands there while everyone else seems to be moving with purpose. The ball sticks when it gets to him. If the ball doesn’t come his way, he stands around and waits for someone else to shoot and crashes the boards.
I am not trying to bash the kid. In fact, I think he needs to be on the floor because he’s excellent defensively and gives good help in rebounding. But I don’t think it’s a coincidence that like last year, Newton and UConn look noticeably worse offensively when someone who can’t shoot is dominating the ball. Last year, Hurley realized that and found a way to get Andre involved without having him run the point. That’s why I thought perhaps Castle could try occasionally cutting toward the basket, or perhaps fill the “dunkers” role that Andre Jackson did last year offensively. He just doesn’t seem to have much else to offer in our offensive sets since he can’t shoot from the outside, and he is extremely hesitant to put the ball on the floor , and given those traits, it bogs down the offense when he is at the top of the key with the ball acting as the lead guard
