Arizona Post Game Thread

[Marat]

When Mullins comes back, Stewart sits and is still in the rotation.

The key is Reed, because I don't think we would want 3 guards if Reibe and Karaban are the front court. But Demary, Ball, Mullins, Reed, Karaban is a fine lineup with Smith, Reibe, Stewart, Ross as the main bench rotation and only if another injury it would depend on whom, but Millender if a PG, Furphy if a SG, Koroma if a C or PF...that kinda 3rd man be ready approach. Hence Koroma came in for 12 min to spell Reibe as needed.

Though the silver lining last night:
1. 15 assists to their 9
2. 5 turnovers to their 10
3. 4 steals to their 3
4. 6 blocks to their 4
5. 32% 3PT shooting making 8 to their 20% making 2

Given Reibe had 4 boards, I cannot see how Reed would not have at least doubled that, and scored 18 while Reibe in 8-10 minutes would be 6 pts and 2 boards.

Still, missing 9 FTs and shooting 9-18 is crazy for us. Getting on Koroma for missing 4 would be easy but he's historically not a good FT shooter, and had Reed played, Koroma would not have. That means maybe +3 FTs made.

So losing by 4, so many little variable changes would heave meant we win. No shame in this one as it was stacked against us without Reed (and Mullins).

Probably Hurley will not start Mullins immediately. He will come in from the bench., like he did with Reed initially, but for a few more games.

 

[superjohn]

Probably Hurley will not start Mullins immediately. He will come in from the bench., like he did with Reed initially, but for a few more games.

Reed started immediately.

 

[UConn2SF]

Solo looks like he's looking to draw fouls instead of just trying to hit the 3s.

 

[Mr. French]

Is he lifting for bulk or to cut though?

There's a difference between 3 250 reps to get stronger and 8 175 reps to stay lean.

Try going through an extreme lift session and then shooting a basketball afterward or the day after.

If solo lifts right before a game, then we’re on to something.

Lifting won’t hurt your shot in 1 offseason.

 

[aceboon]

AK the only player who BYers want to simultaneously place on the UConn Mount Rushmore for his team's accomplishments and be labeled "most decorated", but when he's ghost in big games is given bail and excused for not showing up because it was a "tough matchup" . AK played 35 minutes and it would have probably been damn near 40 if not for the early 2 fouls, you gotta be able to stumble your way into more than 5 shots. He should be able to roll out of bed and get 5 shots up, go work for double that.

 

[ctbro1999]

Actually, a large percentage of his looks have been forced, rushed, in very tight windows. Some it was clear he wasn’t even set, but thought he could hunt and draw a foul. Which none was called. If you shot-quality chart them, it wouldn’t surprise me if 20-30% of his 3s this year have been “tough”. His % make is suffering because of it.

Plus now everyone knows he's a deadshot 3-pt shooter (they didn't necessarily know that at the beginning of last year) so he's a marked man. Everyone and their mom know he's a player you gotta stick to like glue this season. I've been encouraged by his improvement in his mid-range game, but he's gotta get his 3-pt shot online.

 

[T-Squared]

I hope that Mullins is as advertised. We need a third perimeter threat. Other teams will try to duplicate Arizona’s game plan - shut down Karaban and Ball and take your chances with the rest.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

BigErn commenting on something he doesn't know about to put himself in position to look stupid never fails.

Never picked up a ball or did a basketball training session in his life but wants to make comments like this and laugh at the experience of someone who did lol

Next time a law issue comes up that you speak on I'll be there to mock it.

This Guy talking gibberish about something he doesn't know anything about and holding himself out as the expert. What else is new? Would love to hear about your off-season training sessions with Tim Grover when you were trying to make the league.

You sound like a housewife at Curves but do your thing. I'm not one of the posters that's going to get in a pointless back and forth with you.

 

[HW611]

This Guy talking gibberish about something he doesn't know anything about and holding himself out as the expert. What else is new? Would love to hear about your off-season training sessions with Tim Grover when you were trying to make the league.

You sound like a housewife at Curves but do your thing. I'm not one of the posters that's going to get in a pointless back and forth with you.

There's an article in the thread that goes into detail about the theory discussed. How it's recognized and worked around. But go off.

 

[Marat]

I hope that Mullins is as advertised. We need a third perimeter threat. Other teams will try to duplicate Arizona’s game plan - shut down Karaban and Ball and take your chances with the rest.

Won't work as well since Reed will be playing .... (fingers crossed).

 

[superjohn]

Is he lifting for bulk or to cut though?

There's a difference between 3 250 reps to get stronger and 8 175 reps to stay lean.

Try going through an extreme lift session and then shooting a basketball afterward or the day after.

He's not lifting to bulk up or to cut and that stuff is really done in the kitchen. He's not a bodybuilder or a physique competitor. He lifts to get stronger and to be more explosive. He's not going to get too bulky from doing low rep benching/squats/whatever else as opposed to high rep and there's no such thing as lifting to get lean. That's not how it works. He should always be lifting heavy whether it's low reps or high reps.

 

[Hunt for 7]

If solo lifts right before a game, then we’re on to something.

Lifting won’t hurt your shot in 1 offseason.

This is classic…..wonder how much basketball some of you have ever played. Or if you so did you ever have to improve part of your game.

Clearly Solo worked on his right hand in the off season. His shot will come back and when it does he will be a better player than he was last year.

He now has options even his mid range game is better.

I think Reed, Demary and Mullins will be the alphas on this team. They will be the go to guys at the end of a game to go hunt a shot. Reed has to depend on the passing but once he gets it 7 ft or so from the basket he will hunt. Demary has already shown he is not afraid to go hunt a shot at crunch time. I feel confident Mullins will also be able to do that as well. Then we have Solo who will be a great fourth option and then AK will make his open threes when he is not option 1,2 or 3.

The rest of this team are clear role players they may have big nights when they are forgotten about by the defense but I would not expect consistent big games. They just are who they are and we should all know that.

One edit I think next year Reibe will be one of our go to players. He is very skilled in the post and has true 7ft size. He is not the long defender Clingan was but you all have to see that his offensive skill set is well ahead of where Clingan was as a freshman. Also by next year you are not going to be seeing Reibe defender stay in lane while he is standing at the three point line. He will make 40% of his threes if they leave him wide open. Last night was a lot of pressure to put on a freshman and he stood up. If he is at UConn for three years that will be a surprise to me.

Also clearly you can see this team being a top 5 or so team if they ever get a stay fully healthy.

By the end of the year Solo will be near 40% from three although he better stop digging a bigger hole because when we are at full strength his usage will go down.

 

[thekollieman]

That's a word salad.

What's your point?

I can explain it to you, but I can’t understand it for you.

I made my point in one sentence in my first reply. God bless you.

 

[boog204]

IDK..... 12 pts and a couple of 3's in 17 minutes vs BC was a nice start....

And Mahaney was our best player in preseason game 1 last year. Obviously I’m expecting much, much more but we’re anointing a kid who hasn’t played a second of an official game as deadly and plus, plus etc. Burries was a higher rated prospect and he’s going through growing pains. Let’s just chill a bit. Someone the other day posted that Mullins will be our go-to guy for big shots etc already.

 

[Mr. French]

This is classic…..wonder how much basketball some of you have ever played. Or if you so did you ever have to improve part of your game.

Clearly Solo worked on his right hand in the off season. His shot will come back and when it does he will be a better player than he was last year.

He now has options even his mid range game is better.

I think Reed, Demary and Mullins will be the alphas on this team. They will be the go to guys at the end of a game to go hunt a shot. Reed has to depend on the passing but once he gets it 7 ft or so from the basket he will hunt. Demary has already shown he is not afraid to go hunt a shot at crunch time. I feel confident Mullins will also be able to do that as well. Then we have Solo who will be a great fourth option and then AK will make his open threes when he is not option 1,2 or 3.

The rest of this team are clear role players they may have big nights when they are forgotten about by the defense but I would not expect consistent big games. They just are who they are and we should all know that.

One edit I think next year Reibe will be one of our go to players. He is very skilled in the post and has true 7ft size. He is not the long defender Clingan was but you all have to see that his offensive skill set is well ahead of where Clingan was as a freshman. Also by next year you are not going to be seeing Reibe defender stay in lane while he is standing at the three point line. He will make 40% of his threes if they leave him wide open. Last night was a lot of pressure to put on a freshman and he stood up. If he is at UConn for three years that will be a surprise to me.

Also clearly you can see this team being a top 5 or so team if they ever get a stay fully healthy.

By the end of the year Solo will be near 40% from three although he better stop digging a bigger hole because when we are at full strength his usage will go down.

I dno if this is directed at me, but you quoted me.

I have played, trained, lifted, coached. I dno what you’re saying in this whole thing, we’re discussing lifting affecting your shot.

 

[alexd]

And Mahaney was our best player in preseason game 1 last year. Obviously I’m expecting much, much more but we’re anointing a kid who hasn’t played a second of an official game as deadly and plus, plus etc. Burries was a higher rated prospect and he’s going through growing pains. Let’s just chill a bit. Someone the other day posted that Mullins will be our go-to guy for big shots etc already.

Personally, I'm not expecting him to come back and be a savior, but i do think adding his skill set into our current mix will be exciting.

 

[Mr. French]

I’m quite certain the UConn basketball staff has S&C coaches who would know what to do to not affect one’s jumper, especially our clear cut best 3 point shooter.

People are speculating whether Solo just went rogue and did 10,000 curls and tricep extensions per day, against the S&C program, and that made him so jacked that he can barely move his arms? Do I have this theory right?

 

[ctchamps]

Rebounding yea that was bad. I felt as if we gave the lane up way too many times.

After the Reibe foul on Bradley at the 16:50 mark in the second half we changed our approach with Reibe. Had him play drop coverage instead of hedging. AZ took advantage of this. AZ’s center would screen our defenders who were covering Burries and Bradley. That’s how those two continuously were able to drive to the basket.

Reibe needs more time to learn to hedge on defense and rotate back quickly. Tarris was sorely missed for this as much as the needs for rebounding and offense.

 

[RuffRuff]

Personally, I'm not expecting him to come back and be a savior, but i do think adding his skill set into our current mix will be exciting.

I'm expecting him to bring some IQ to the 2/3 spots that is severely lacking in what we have rolling there these days. I expect him to do the little things better than what we have going on right now. Tarris is easily the more important of the two, but Mullins will bring value in ways that aren't just chucking 3's.

 

[HW611]

I’m quite certain the UConn basketball staff has S&C coaches who would know what to do to not affect one’s jumper, especially our clear cut best 3 point shooter.

People are speculating whether Solo just went rogue and did 10,000 curls and tricep extensions per day, against the S&C program, and that made him so jacked that he can barely move his arms? Do I have this theory right?

Idk. We have different sets of information here.

We have the greatest scorer ever who's talked about avoiding lifting weights noting that affect.

We have the greatest shooter ever who recognized the theory and has a “secret” method around it (back in 2022 maybe the secret is exposed by now)

And then a college basketball S&C staff.

I'm not going to automatically assume a college S&C staff has the same method but it could be possible. I have no idea what they do as its speculation. But I understand the nature to defer to our staff since it's our team. But it's also not the highest level of basketball.

Solo looks noticeably bigger though this year in the arms and his jump shot has seemed to suffer some. With that comes questions to try and make sense of it.

 

[Stew Crew]

I’m quite certain the UConn basketball staff has S&C coaches who would know what to do to not affect one’s jumper, especially our clear cut best 3 point shooter.

People are speculating whether Solo just went rogue and did 10,000 curls and tricep extensions per day, against the S&C program, and that made him so jacked that he can barely move his arms? Do I have this theory right?

Solo's issues have nothing to do with his upper body. It's all in the footwork. You can tell if his shot is going in before his release. If he is squared and jumps straight up with minimal kick out, it's going in >60% of the time. Arizona made a conscious effort to deny Ball and Karaban the ball. Lloyd said as much in the post game. Solo rushed and was not squared on the majority of his 3s. Contrary, his form on the foul line jumpers was impeccable; weight balanced and straight up.

 

[ctchamps]

He was the second string center last night and his FT's hurt the team.

He is our third string center who was the backup to our second string center and his FT's hurt the team, but his play as a third string backup was better than could be expected. That is why we can arguably say we have a deep team.

 

[DW1361]

I may watch the game again to see what you all are seeing.

Someone commented that the team played subpar, except for Reibe. I believe we came back from being 13 down and only lost by four in a game that could have easily gone the other way, just as the Florida game went. Anyway, everyone contributed and yes there was some bad plays, but I saw a gritty bunch that played together and took what Arizona gave them. I saw a team that made the right decisions 9 of 10 times. I saw aggressive defense that will only get better. We knew we were going to lose the rebounding battle, but we did better at that towards the end of the game as well. I loved how these guys stepped up. I loved seeing Reibe take this threes, especially the last one after missing two in a row. What a wonderful early test, having almost beaten a very good AZ team that was playing well themselves. They lost, but not from playing subpar. I am proud of the way this team is gelling. Last year at this time they looked lost. Not the case this year.

 

[superjohn]

I'm expecting him to bring some IQ to the 2/3 spots that is severely lacking in what we have rolling there these days. I expect him to do the little things better than what we have going on right now. Tarris is easily the more important of the two, but Mullins will bring value in ways that aren't just chucking 3's.

Agreed. His off ball movement was uncommon for a high school/AAU player. He's a lot more than just a shooter. He just knows how to play the game and he's a quick decision maker. He also has that floater that we were bricking in the first half last night.

 

[superjohn]

We have the greatest scorer ever who's talked about avoiding lifting weights noting that affect.

Nah, Jordan got very serious about weight training after the Pistons beat him up and heavy lifting was a huge part of his training.