Baylor Post Game Thread

[Palatine]

Diarra had a sub par game but he is still a much better option than Nowell. The less Nowell plays the bigger his legend will grow. But in reality, he is a freshman feeling his way, nowhere near Diarra on the defensive end. And Mahaney was huge tonight. He gave the team a lift at critical moments in both halves. Nowell will get his chances but not in games like tonight.

 

[Boost'ED]

This was the first game I was able to watch fully (I missed the Maui games, being they were during working hours) and some observations:

1. Our defense is clearly not comparable to the last two years.
a) We allow way too much dribble penetration, seemingly as if our guys are expecting Donovan to erase/alter shots.
b) I zeroed in on Solo a bunch of times (many have observed his poor D), and the assessments are accurate. He's not the quickest to react laterally.

2. Rebounding was pretty average; there were a number of rebounds which our guards last year would have gobbled up.

3. Ball handling at the end was poor. Our lack of a steady secondary ball handler (Hassan being our best) was evident. It was such a luxury to have Tristen, Cam, Stephon, and Hassan (off the bench) all being able to handle the ball. I can't believe some thought Ball could be a PG?

4. We have no clear player that can create and score. Again, our embarrassment of high-level playmakers (Tristen, Cam, & Stephon) last year has spoiled me as a a fan.

5. IMO, Danny will need to piecemeal a tournament team this year, and most games will be high tension.

Solid win, but it will be a long maddening season.

 

[Mike Honcho]

Really needed that. Baylor IMO is good not great and were missing some, as we were with AK, but we need that one.

McNeeley is real good, Jaylin was a bright spot and overall our bigs played well. Defense was a lot better in the 2nd half other than last couple mins. No clue why Ahmad is back nailed to the bench, especially when Hassan was no good for a lot of the game.

Solo is an awful defender. He can hit some shots, but I don’t think there has ever been a guard with his physical profile this bad defensively. On top of his lack of skill, he has no focus. Hurley has a decision to make methinks. Ross was awful and got the boot, Solo was arguably more detrimental and got all the mins. It’s all a bit confusing.

Again, really needed that win. Proud of the boys shorthanded. Still a ton to work on. On to the next.

I was watching Solo closely on those last two blow-bys. He seemed much more concerned with trying to locate screeners that he completely lost track of the guy with the ball. Even the announcers mentioned that he didn't even force the ballhandler to change direction.

I'm really worried about all of the sophomores and their inability to keep their man in front of them. It puts a ton of pressure on our bigs and has been a key reason (though not the only reason) why they've been in perpetual foul trouble.

 

[Skiblets]

Can we talk abt solo ball’s defense

Rick Carlisle channeling the legendary John Mckay

 

[uconngb]

Question now, is it something that Dan Hurley will employ at all with AK back? Agree taking Samson Johnson out of the primary 5 role really played into his strengths. Anything that helps minimize Solo on the floor could be useful. Solo and his 1 rebound and 2 turnovers and 0 assists in 30 minutes, along with series of bonehead plays in crunch time, are killers.

He is an enigma but his couple of random 3s are currently not enough to offset everything else that he either doesn’t do or does negatively.

 

[JonnyRI]

Can we talk abt solo ball’s defense

Can we talk abt solo ball’s defense

What defense?

 

[Hunt for 7]

Needed this one. Got to work on Ball's D. We played a little scared at the end.

You really can’t call what Ball was doing on the last two Baylor possessions defense. I guess he decided to become a student fan.

But hey we still won…McNeeley showed why he was ranked so high. He is a dog. He hunts big shots, he played good defense against their guards. Moved his feet then walled up once they got near the rim. It was very effective.

Samson what can you say that is the best we should expect. I will take that every game. Was available for all but 1:08 of the game.

Stewart played good and looked more like a sophomore than Ball or Ross. Stewart did not foul Omier at the end of the game.

Ross with two and Ball certainly one but maybe two of the worst passes I have ever seen by a scholarship UConn player.

I have been a Ross supporter but after tonight we can’t have him on the floor in an end of game situation. He did have a few good rebounds and I think he just needs to focus on his D and rebounding. He had moments defensively that looked promising. If the mistakes were not so bad it could have been a different game for him. But we don’t need his shooting or offense.

We did not have AK but by they ended up without 2 of their 3 best player with VJ out the whole game and the Roach going out.

The defense was better but those end of game lay up line defensive possessions were so bad it was kind of shocking. It was like he had no idea he was supposed to guard his man once he got past half court.

Reed had another good game he is a beast down low.

And for what it is worth Mahaney plays better against higher level competition. But he may end up in as a higher usage Joey C because he is a great shooter.

We learned there could be a new rotation when AK comes out. I liked the two big man rotation and when they played with Stewart and Liam we rebounded really well and defended ok.


Lastly it was good to see Danny joking with the refs. Not sure who said it but he needs to butter them sometimes. Tonight it may have been the home court but he managed his interaction with the refs much better.

We are not a final four team. You can see Stewart getting better he has his oh boy moments but at the end of the game I would prefer to see Mahaney in the game than Ball. He at least has some clutch in him.

I understand we won but we still have a long way to go.

 

[TheHorde]

This was the first game I was able to watch fully (I missed the Maui games, being they were during working hours) and some observations:

1. Our defense is clearly not comparable to the last two years.
a) We allow way too much dribble penetration, seemingly as if our guys are expecting Donovan to erase/alter shots.
b) I zeroed in on Solo a bunch of times (many have observed his poor D), and the assessments are accurate. He's not the quickest to react laterally.

2. Rebounding was pretty average; there were a number of rebounds which our guards last year would have gobbled up.

3. Ball handling at the end was poor. Our lack of a steady secondary ball handler (Hassan being our best) was evident. It was such a luxury to have Tristen, Cam, Stephon, and Hassan (off the bench) all being able to handle the ball. I can't believe some thought Ball could be a PG?

4. We have no clear player that can create and score. Again, our embarrassment of high-level playmakers (Tristen, Cam, & Stephon) last year has spoiled me as a a fan.

5. IMO, Danny will need to piecemeal a tournament team this year, and most games will be high tension.

Solid win, but it will be a long maddening season.

Not to look past this year at all, but I’m excited for what Reibe will bring. We and Hurley got spoiled with Donovan’s rim protection. It’s so critical to have, especially when you’re overplaying guys and trying to chase them off the three point line, which in turn encourages drives to the basket.

 

[Huskyforlife]

Ball needs to figure out some other way to be impactful, unsustainable shooting luck is carrying his game right now.

Samson at the 4 greatly reduces his foul potential, might need more double bigs.

Liam is gonna be a dude by march, love his physical drives. The shot will fall sooner or later.

Kinda disappointed to see no Nowell or Abraham, but can't complain with the win.

Point guard play still isn't up to standard, need to get Nowell minutes so he's ready by march.

 

[AllHusky]

Those two on the court together with Alex and either Liam or Stewart would scare the hell out of me from a ball handling and dribble drive/penetration standpoint.

Not being a wise guy, but what do you mean? No ball handling or drivers? Or scare you if you were an opponent.

 

[CTBasketball]

Mahaney, in 1 month, has learned Hurley’s defense better than Ball has in 1.5 years.

 

[GHSWolverines]

I'm happy Liam came to Storrs.

Other thsn AK he is the only one not afraid to drive to the hoop

 

[JMick]

Ball needs to figure out some other way to be impactful, unsustainable shooting luck is carrying his game right now.

Samson at the 4 greatly reduces his foul potential, might need more double bigs.

Liam is gonna be a dude by march, love his physical drives. The shot will fall sooner or later.

Kinda disappointed to see no Nowell or Abraham, but can't complain with the win.

Point guard play still isn't up to standard, need to get Nowell minutes so he's ready by march.

I'm more surprised we haven't seen more of Abraham than no Nowell. Especially with Alex being out. Abraham has looked pretty good in limited minutes and I figured he might bring some much needed athleticism to the floor

 

[TheHorde]

Ball needs to figure out some other way to be impactful, unsustainable shooting luck is carrying his game right now.

Samson at the 4 greatly reduces his foul potential, might need more double bigs.

Liam is gonna be a dude by march, love his physical drives. The shot will fall sooner or later.

Kinda disappointed to see no Nowell or Abraham, but can't complain with the win.

Point guard play still isn't up to standard, need to get Nowell minutes so he's ready by march.

Liam contributed on the defensive end which some blocks and tough rebounds. I and others criticized him in Maui for not filling up the box score in Maui despite playing 33 minutes. He showed up huge on both ends of the floor tonight and we loved it.

 

[Viet Vet]

Can we talk abt solo ball’s defense

There’s nothing to talk about. It’s a mirage.

 

[rcarj]

I don’t get it since he’s a top percentile athlete. I really don’t.

Honestly, it’s crazy for a guy that athletic and strong to be such a bad 1v1 defender.

 

[Devland]

It seems to me that Diarra is the only one that can find an open Samson Johnson underneath.

 

[TheHorde]

Not being a wise guy, but what do you mean? No ball handling or drivers? Or scare you if you were an opponent.

Meaning we’d have 1 real guard in that lineup with the middle essentially clogged with 2 bigs on the floor. We’d likely not be driving to the basket much at all simply due to the personnel we’d have on the court. Unless we sat Alex or Liam more than usual, which I don’t see happening.

 

[Hunt for 7]

Yep and yep.

That was an amazing call to over turn. They called it basket interference live and there is no way the replay showed anything definitive.

Drew got that over turned by working the refs.

But Danny dis a better job at working the refs tonight than he has in a long time. That was refreshing no nasty faces no name calling just that one time when he charged on the court as they were going to time out. Forget what he was mad about but I thought we were coming back to a T on him.

 

[huskyharry]

Doesn't really matter but I always thought smacking the rim was automatic goaltending.

It should be when the ball is in the vertical cylinder which it was

 

[huskyjawz]

Really needed that. Baylor IMO is good not great and were missing some, as we were with AK, but we need that one.

McNeeley is real good, Jaylin was a bright spot and overall our bigs played well. Defense was a lot better in the 2nd half other than last couple mins. No clue why Ahmad is back nailed to the bench, especially when Hassan was no good for a lot of the game.

Solo is an awful defender. He can hit some shots, but I don’t think there has ever been a guard with his physical profile this bad defensively. On top of his lack of skill, he has no focus. Hurley has a decision to make methinks. Ross was awful and got the boot, Solo was arguably more detrimental and got all the mins. It’s all a bit confusing.

Again, really needed that win. Proud of the boys shorthanded. Still a ton to work on. On to the next.

Ahmad's on the bench b/c Mahaney went 3/4 from three.

 

[rcarj]

Tough physical win against a very good team. Big deposit in the confidence account.

McNeeley is better than I thought he would be at this point.

Mcneeley was impressive. Played good d and didn’t just settle for j’s. Johnson, Reed, Stewart and Mahaney also played well in their respective roles.

 

[Mister P]

How funny was it when a hyped up Hurley pretty much head butted Mahaney when Baylor called a timeout after Mahaney made his second first half 3. Thatvexpression is why players love to play for Hurley.

I’m sure someone can find and post that video.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Gut check game. Huge win the can build on. Texas is a winnable game.

• Diarra was awful in the first half. In every phase. finally showed up in the 2nd
• Ross had a bad game. Careless, dumb fouls, he's trying too hard to win minutes. It’s a team game.
• Mahaney added the shooting off the bench we needed with Alex out and Liam cold
• Liam is a hyper competitive dude. Smart of him to start driving until he finally broke out of his shooting slump. Huge for us.
• Johnson was one of our best players for the second game in a row. Can the Yard admit it?
• Reed is just so reliable.
• Solo shooting is great but am I the only one who wishes he attacked and finished like all those Baylor guards? Or rebounded more?
• Stewart should play more. I don’t know what he did to piss Dan off.
  

 

[HuskyinWRNY]

I feel better now

 

[huskyharry]

Samson played a great game, several of his fouls were bs. Mahaney played great as well, hopefully this helps his confidence. McNeeley and Reed excellent as well. Ball can really shoot the 3, unfortunately he is an absolute liability on defense. He can’t stay in front of anyone. The stupid turnovers are an issue as well. Hassan needs to dribble and shoot less. Particularly from 3. Stewart is solid and excellent passer. He needs to improve his defense on drives. Ross still a work in progress but plenty of potential. Certainly not his best game. Still waiting to confuse him with Reggie miller

The two live ball turnovers that led to a Baylor two and three by Ross and Ball were potential killers but the youngsters will get better. Ball Ami’s a very good athlete don’t understand why he doesn’t work harder to stay in front of his man

 

[uconngb]

You really can’t call what Ball was doing on the last two Baylor possessions defense. I guess he decided to become a student fan.

But hey we still won…McNeeley showed why he was ranked so high. He is a dog. He hunts big shots, he played good defense against their guards. Moved his feet then walled up once they got near the rim. It was very effective.

Samson what can you say that is the best we should expect. I will take that every game. Was available for all but 1:08 of the game.

Stewart played good and looked more like a sophomore than Ball or Ross. Stewart did not foul Omier at the end of the game.

Ross with two and Ball certainly one but maybe two of the worst passes I have ever seen by a scholarship UConn player.

I have been a Ross supporter but after tonight we can’t have him on the floor in an end of game situation. He did have a few good rebounds and I think he just needs to focus on his D and rebounding. He had moments defensively that looked promising. If the mistakes were not so bad it could have been a different game for him. But we don’t need his shooting or offense.

We did not have AK but by they ended up without 2 of their 3 best player with VJ out the whole game and the Roach going out.

The defense was better but those end of game lay up line defensive possessions were so bad it was kind of shocking. It was like he had no idea he was supposed to guard his man once he got past half court.

Reed had another good game he is a beast down low.

And for what it is worth Mahaney plays better against higher level competition. But hey we still may end up being a higher usage Joey C because he is a great shooter.

We learned there could be a new rotation when AK comes out. I liked the two big man rotation and when they played with Stewart and Liam we rebounded really well and defended ok.


Lastly it was good to see Danny joking with the refs. Not sure who said it but he needs to butter them sometimes. Tonight it may have been the home court but he managed his interaction with the refs much better.

We are not a final four team. You can see Stewart getting better he has his oh boy moments but at the end of the game I would prefer to see Mahaney in the game than Ball. He at least has some clutch in him.

I understand we won but we still have a long way to go.

I’m glad to see the love affair of the next anointed one in Ross coming to an end. Dominating UNH is one thing. He is nothing but a bit player currently.

What Hurley should have been doing in those cupcake games is getting Nowell and Abraham some run. They at least appear to have upside and can play defense.

And Ball?? If he can’t learn to do something other than hit open 3s he is a MAJOR liability for us. Right now he is literally doing nothing else additive.

 

[3rdbass]

Liam is bona fide top 5 recruits nationally. He has top flight BBIQ. His ball handling is soooo underrated, and he could get his shots off anywhere. Every time he drives to basketball, he either gets fouled or converts His game will accelerate as he gets more reps in and stronger.

And his lateral D has improved so much from the beginning of the season.

 

[Bazz2014]

Plenty to work on but after the despair of Maui this feels good. No alex and we gutted out a top 25 win. Credit to the team, and I am officially on record eating crow re: Mahaney and Johnson. They turned it on when we needed them, hope they felt the love from gampel tonight and that this is a lightbulb moment. And huge credit to Hurley for adapting to be what this team needs him to be. Not just handling the refs better, but finding the tone and approach that this group of players need from him. The hug for Samson at the end and flying out to Aidan to celebrate after the back to back 3s in the first half were awesome.

Don’t think it’s going to be a straight forward upward climb but he’s going to get more out of these guys than any other coach would.

 

[Hunt for 7]

Are we better without Alex?

Liam is better without Alex because he has to be. That is what happened.