BC Post Game Thread | Page 6 | The Boneyard
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BC Post Game Thread

Like that we have Malachi as our back up PG not too many programs will have that off the bench. Other than that it’s an October 13th exhibition and it played out that way and we didn’t have 2 key starters who change things. Tarris would’ve had a field day.

2 weeks of practice and time for the kids to soak in their first night out of the womb (or is it 2nd) let’s check to see where we are on the 29th.
 
  • Defense looked much better than last year, but still a lot of fouling.
  • Reibe looked good. Size looked the part on the defensive end. You can tell he has good footwork, missed a couple bunnies but has a nice touch around the rim.
  • Solo looked visibly bigger, hit a couple jumpshots. Malachi smith is scrappy, will be a nice change of pace off the bench. Stewart looked comfortable offensively but got blown by a couple times. Ross is Ross, not much to offer offensively, but played good defense
  • Based on how smith played once Demary is back that rotation is a lot like the Newton/Diarra 1-2 punch
  • Promising though, once Reed and Silas are healthy things will look much better to everyone’s eyes.
 
HW611 said:
Ross Thoughts

Played like he didn’t believe he’s a D1 basketball player the first half. 2nd half was much better and he looks great when he’s actually decisive and believes he can be a D1 basketball player. It’s literally just mental. The pull up was so smooth. +26 and looks like our best perimeter defender. Hope he can keep building on this and plays like he thinks he’s a D1 player.
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I truly just don’t understand it with him. Looked allergic to the ball in the first half and tried to get rid of it on offense as quickly as possible. Way more decisive and confident in the second half and looked like a completely different player. We’ve seen little spurts of that before and it has never quite stuck. Hopefully a switch can flip but it’s entirely on him to make that jump.

The defense was jumpy at times in the first half but he settled in nicely in the second half and had some really nice possessions. He just needs to realize that he’s athletic and long enough to make things difficult without bouncing around right up in the ballhandler’s face. I feel like like he thinks that’s intensity, but it’s what gets him off balance and out of position. He’s immeasurably better on defense when he just calms down a bit.
 
The two biggest positives were:

(1) Point guard -- Malachi is an elite back-up pg. Alec was a pleasant surprise. He can play at this level and having him as a 3rd string pg provides for fantastic depth.

(2) Eric Reibe -- He missed a bunch of bunnies, but I thought he looked fantastic. He moves incredibly well for his size and seems to have a strong BBIQ. As he matures throughout the season, he's going to be great. IMO, he's a future NBA player.


The two biggest negatives:

(1) We were heavily reliant on the three and couldn't make a shot. We need to attack the basket more and draw fouls. I hope this will change with Silas back. I can definitely see Malachi and Silas playing together to fix this. Solo is still a one-dimensional player.

(2) Jaylin Stewart's defense. I thought team defense as a whole was very good - but Jaylin looked lost on defense. As a jr trying to break into the starting line-up, I expected more.

Plenty to like. Plenty to dislike. Hoping for improvement against Michigan State. We're far from a finished product.
 
WhereistheDove? said:
I truly just don’t understand it with him. Looked allergic to the ball in the first half and tried to get rid of it on offense as quickly as possible. Way more decisive and confident in the second half and looked like a completely different player. We’ve seen little spurts of that before and it has never quite stuck. Hopefully a switch can flip but it’s entirely on him to make that jump.

The defense was jumpy at times in the first half but he settled in nicely in the second half and had some really nice possessions. He just needs to realize that he’s athletic and long enough to make things difficult without bouncing around right up in the ballhandler’s face. I feel like like he thinks that’s intensity, but it’s what gets him off balance and out of position. He’s immeasurably better on defense when he just calms down a bit.
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I feel like he’s never been “the guy” and has always been a role player even in HS so he’s way too comfortable and used to deferring.

Would love it if the staff emphasized him being aggressive when it comes to being intentional about scoring, especially through these preseason and early game slates… now is that time to allow him to work on that and let him play through those mistakes so he can be comfortable when the games start to matter.

Defensively may have just been first game jitters and he needed to slow down. Overall, Ross will go as far as his confidence takes him. And I hope the coaching staff can do what they can to bring that confidence out of him as I still think him playing with confidence could be our best option at the 3.

Mullins is as advertised offensively, but still slight at the position to be a legit defensive stopper that Ross is capable of being.
 
View from row 4 near midcourt.

1. Reibe is bigger/stronger than I thought, more capable and physical in the paint. Never once stepped outside to shoot. As a backup center, wow. He does need to dunk more or at least go up stronger.
2. Smith is a terror on D, very slick and quick ball handler. Again, as a backup? I think he's probably better than Diarra was. He's going to play a lot, especially late in games.
3. Shooting. Don't care. They all looked off, Alex, Solo, Mullins, Stewart. Doesn't matter. Not worried about it.
4. Mullins is quick and has a nice looking stroke. Strong players are going to body him and he's going to slap at them and will probably commit a lot of fouls. He couldn't handle Hand Jr. He does put effort into defense but clearly is still learning.
5. Stewart is a calming influence. He's a Junior and when Hurley needed the team to settle down, Stewart was the call. Knows the system, does the right things. Rebounding looks improved.
6. Ross got extended minutes in an effort to slow down Hand Jr. and was fairly effective. He's no Lyman DePriest, but he's the closest thing we have to a wing defensive stopper. That seems to be his role. If somebody is going off on us, I expect him to get the call.
7. Furphy didn't do much, but was also fine in his minutes. Wasn't mistake prone, played hard. He'd play a ton on a lesser team.
8. Millender. Seemed like a throw in depth piece, but with Silas out, it's clear we needed him. Not sure who plays PG without him, Furphy maybe. Teams are going to press us just to reduce our time in half court, so having him for situations like this is critical. Clearly a veteran player.
9. Koroma. Very tough, aggressive rebounder and interior defender and scorer. Gives up size to most 5s. Will be very useful to have against some opponents and plays very hard out there.

Side note: the speed of the game compared to the women, sitting in the same seats just hours apart, is really staggering. The cuts, the speed of ball movement, the speed of moving up court with or without the ball, it's just not even comparable.
 
Stew looked active offensively, but his D has gotten worse - if that is at all possible
 
navery12 said:
I would bet any amount of money in the world we're not playing an 11 or 12 man rotation
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I bet Millender is gonna wind up averaging ~5mpg this year with consistent appearances. He’s the 10th man with Koroma getting spot minutes if Reed and Reibe have foul trouble or it’s a blowout. Idk how many deep that counts as, 10,11,9.5?
 
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I was also close to the court and agree with the incredible speed of the game up close. I'll just add to the many thoughts I generally agree with.

1. I felt we communicated and switched well on defense when play was right in front of me..
2. He might be an inch taller, but in terms of overall physical presence I think Koroma is actually smaller than Stewart and maybe even Ross. He makes up for it by quickness, aggressiveness, and good leaping ability, but we are very small and slight in the front court with him.
3. I thought everybody belonged and had something to contribute. Furphy played good defense right in front of me and I'm sure he would play well in games, but, his usage last night suggests he is the odd man out. If Hurley doesn't turn to him when everyone is throwing up bricks ...
4. We played with 4 forwards and a point guard in stretches. That surprised me. Ross, Stewart, Alex, Koroma, PG.
5. Obviously Mullins would be better with more strength but I don't see that as any concern at all. Just stop busting into 3 point shooters.
6. Reibe is going to be more ready and relieved me of some worry.
7. Watching live I am surprised Ross was only credited with 4 rbs. If you get an airball or come up with a ball that hit the floor is it still a rb?
8. Millender is trust worthy and he, Smith, and Mullins all looked pure from the line. Reibe also stroked a FT.
9 Karaban is clearly bigger.

Concern: Hand from BC was a contact seeking missile and drew fouls. Dybantsa will do that to our front court in the BYU game. Hurley played Reibe at the end of the first half with 2 fouls and I believe Koroma also had fouls. Hurley said we haven't practiced much small ball center. Maybe we should.
 
Regarding the shooting, yes we missed a lot of open looks, but many of them were on possessions where the ball never touched the paint, either through dribble penetration or an entry pass. We we jacking up the first open look we had. After the really bad stretch at the beginning of the second half, we got more dribble penetration and better shots (and shooting) from the perimeter.

Demary, Smith, and Mullins are all very capable of taking their man off the dribble. If healthy, Karaban can get into the paint off of a shot fake, and Ball can do the same. We need to make sure that element stays in our offense. Dribble penetration disrupts the defense and leads to better looks.
 
HW611 said:
Not this again
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If you recruited/developed players that have an expectation to shoot 40%+ on clean-look/in-flow 3's...when they get one, they HAVE to take it. It's as simple as that. Expectation on that shot long-term is 1.2 pts.

Deliberately passing that look up because "we take too many 3's", to only potentially get a 2pt look later on in the shot clock with perhaps 60% make probability ends up only netting you the same 1.2pt expectation. At best.

I generally disagree with blind adherence to deep-dive subtle analytics, but the above is about as basic kindergarten game theory logic as it gets.
 
mauconnfan said:
Like that we have Malachi as our back up PG not too many programs will have that off the bench. Other than that it’s an October 13th exhibition and it played out that way and we didn’t have 2 key starters who change things. Tarris would’ve had a field day.

2 weeks of practice and time for the kids to soak in their first night out of the womb (or is it 2nd) let’s check to see where we are on the 29th.
Expand ...
And his backup (Millender) looked good too.
 
I watched this via UConn+, couldn’t find the game/channel on YT TV which should have had it. Picture quality in-game sucked. Really wish we could get games in at least 1080p quality let alone 4k.
 
Didn't like a bunch of the quick 3s in the first 25 minutes of gameplay even if they were open.

Offense was much better when they took the time to run stuff.

Reibe looks like he absorbing the coaching. He may never be an elite shot blocker (too early to tell), but it seemed like he took good angles on his help defense. Block 4-5 shots a game means nothing if you give up 4-5 dunks and easy put backs because your out of position attempting a block. Looks like he is going to be really good down the line.

The team's makeup reminds me a lot of the '23 championship team. Reed is Sanogo-esque, Karaban is Karaban is Karaban. Mullins looks like he might be an elite shooter and Demary is a big pg like Newton. If Ross and Stewart can get Ajax rebounds and defensive effort out of the two of them along with Malachi and Reibe off the bench, it could be a really good year. They also have a handful more, any of who could step up at some point or get hot or have 'cllick' happen and they become even deeper and more formidable.
 

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