Big East Media Day | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Big East Media Day

Tenspro2002 said:
That is absolutely fascinating that the only player besides Karaban who BE coaches have singled out for individual accolades is a guy who many people on this board think won't even start. Somebody is going to be wrong. And others will be motivated.

P. S. Since when did Wooga Poplar end up on Villanova? I remember when he stunk against us in the Final Four for Miami (0-7 from the field, 2 rebounds, 2 turnovers). Hopefully that will continue.
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Him and Karaban were the only starters last year so it makes sense.

Coaches aren’t going to vote for a guy like Solo who is probably likely based off the hype, but didn’t play much the year prior. Nobody has been talking about him outside of our fanbase this year.
 
The conference crucially held on to the University of Connecticut after Big 12 president Brett Yormark and UConn engaged in discussions over the summer about possibly teaming up. But Yormark didn't have the votes, and so the Huskies remain a Big East partner for the foreseeable future. There's no guaranteeing it will stay that way in perpetuity, but keeping UConn on the roster makes the Big East as appealing and marketable as the league is capable of being.

www.cbssports.com

As UConn sustains Big East's credibility, the league looks to atone for last season's March Madness misses

The two-time reigning champs are again the pick to win the Big East as a proud conference looks to respond following three big NCAA snubs last year
www.cbssports.com www.cbssports.com
 
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navery12 said:
The difference of how UConn fans view Mahaney to how non-UConn fans view him is fascinating
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I think it stems mostly from what nuggets from practice and what people saw at open practice over the summer. The narrative became concerns about his size and ability to adjust to this level of competition and being behind the 8 ball.

I think a lot of those concerns were put to rest after the exhibition, even though it was against A10 talent which is about on par with WCC, it was clear his talent meshes very well with what the staff does and he is very skilled (not surprising, always trust the staff).

Hurley did say yesterday that Mahaney and Tarris are not where they want them yet which I assume to more a product of the staff's high standards that they expect to repeat as champions.
 
Palatine said:
The BE needs UConn more than UConn needs the BE. They should pay us extra.
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Why? They have us until we leave. There is no sum that keeps us in the Big East if the Big 12 comes calling. So the Big East need not do anything. I mean the only other option is that we tell the Big East bye and go indy in everything.
 
navery12 said:
The difference of how UConn fans view Mahaney to how non-UConn fans view him is fascinating
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Most of us have not seen him play yet in a regular season game. I don't recall his game from two years ago. I can tell you this: he looked really good against RI!!!
 
UConnSwag11 said:
Kalk is not impressive
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I don't quite understand the Kalk hate. Granted, he looks like a gangly teenager sometimes (okay, most times), but he produces pretty much every game. And let's face it, Creighton would have been in the bottom half of the league without him. On the other hand, apparently Karaban should be preseason POY?? Don't get me wrong, I like Alex a lot. But, he was a piece last year, not a straw (sorry). Let's compare Kalk and Karaban head to head over the last two years (both teams won twice):

Karaban: 10-28 fg (36%), 3-12 3pt (25%), 9.24 ppg, 4 rpg, .75 ast/g, .75 stls/g.
Kalk: 16-27 fg (59%), 11.75 ppg, 3.5 blks/g, .75 ast/g, 1 stl/g.

So why is Kalk not impressive and Karaban is? Just asking.
 
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BEFAN said:
I don't quite understand the Kalk hate. Granted, he looks like a gangly teenager sometimes (okay, most times), but he produces pretty much every game. And let's face it, Creighton would have been in the bottom half of the league without him. On the other hand, apparently Karaban should be preseason POY?? Don't get me wrong, I like Alex a lot. But, he was a piece last year, not a straw (sorry). Let's compare Kalk and Karaban head to head over the last two years (both teams won twice):

Karaban: 10-28 fg (36%), 3-12 3pt (25%), 9.24 ppg, 4 rpg, .75 ast/g, .75 stls/g.
Kalk: 16-27 fg (59%), 11.75 ppg, 3.5 blks/g, .75 ast/g, 1 stl/g.

So why is Kalk not impressive and Karaban is? Just asking.
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Of course he is impressive. We mock him because he is a little overrated, and because he talked trash in 2023 before Sanogo lit him up.

He was probably a more valuable player than Karaban last year, but it was close. But your cherry-picked stats from a few head-to-head matchups do not prove anything.

KenPom says Karaban was a slightly better offensive player in 2023/24. KenPom doesn't rank individual defense, but I think most would give Kalkbrenner a big enough edge there to make him overall more valuable.

Still, you are comparing a sophomore on a team of future NBA stars to a high-usage senior. After adjusting for that, I don't think anyone in his right mind would pick Kalk over Karaban for his team.

Karaban could have been drafted last year; Kalk had no chance, or else he wouldn't be back for year five of college.
 
Ross officially ahead of Stewart, would probably mean he’s the starting 3 if McNeeley misses any games. I think we wouldn’t mess with the guard trio rotation.

They said I was crazy.
 
Ricker said:
Ross ahead of Stewart per Hurley with Fanta as to where he is right now
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Based upon what I have seen of these two - I’m not surprised. Ross has looked terrific. Although, I don’t monitor defense on film like the staff. I’m just a fan - and becoming a really big fan of Ross. He looks terrific.
 
The Yakk said:
Of course he is impressive. We mock him because he is a little overrated, and because he talked trash in 2023 before Sanogo lit him up.

He was probably a more valuable player than Karaban last year, but it was close. But your cherry-picked stats from a few head-to-head matchups do not prove anything.

KenPom says Karaban was a slightly better offensive player in 2023/24. KenPom doesn't rank individual defense, but I think most would give Kalkbrenner a big enough edge there to make him overall more valuable.

Still, you are comparing a sophomore on a team of future NBA stars to a high-usage senior. After adjusting for that, I don't think anyone in his right mind would pick Kalk over Karaban for his team.

Karaban could have been drafted last year; Kalk had no chance, or else he wouldn't be back for year five of college.
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I agree with your last statement 100%. Again, I like Karaban. The way he can shoot, he will no doubt be a valuable NBA player. But who will have the better pro career doesn't necessarily correlate with who is the more valuable college player. Plenty of examples to cite.
 
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FfldCntyFan said:
It's fascinating that we ended up picked #1 in the conference by a massive margin yet ended up with one all conference first team player and one all conference third team player.
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I'm not surprised. These are preseason selections and not end of season.

We have a lot of talented but unproven players that simply don't have much of a BE resume. The staff doesn't even know yet who will rise to the top, other than AK.

And why UConn is a unanimous BE #1 is because it's a team sport where UConn's sum of the parts is better than any of the other programs, their track record over the past two years and their advanced system coached by the best staff in the business.
 
Citrusdog said:
Based upon what I have seen of these two - I’m not surprised. Ross has looked terrific. Although, I don’t monitor defense on film like the staff. I’m just a fan - and becoming a really big fan of Ross. He looks terrific.
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Hey C-Dog! The development of Ball, Stewart and Ross is going to be a fascinating story to follow. It's obvious that the staff saw something special with Ross to recruit him even though he had a low ranking.

We've seen what Ball can do when he's on his game. If he can bring it consistently at a high level, he's going to be special.

We've also seen how Stewart can contribute, especially on the defense end with energy and intensity and can shoot it at times. I think he's going to steadily find his way and improve. I think he just needs a game soon where he shines to get his focus and confidence back, like what we saw in the BET.

As for Ross, even during mop up time last season he began to show us something, and based on what we're hearing and what we saw in the exhibition game, he did a nice job of creating some scoring opportunities and knocked down some shots. It looked like he belonged out there.

I think Hurley will mix Stewart and Ross in games and time will tell who ends up earning PT.
 
IMG_1765.jpeg
 
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DogMania said:
I'm not surprised. These are preseason selections and not end of season.

We have a lot of talented but unproven players that simply don't have much of a BE resume. The staff doesn't even know yet who will rise to the top, other than AK.

And why UConn is a unanimous BE #1 is because it's a team sport where UConn's sum of the parts is better than any of the other programs, their track record over the past two years and their advanced system coached by the best staff in the business.
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All true, and the other reason UConn was picked #1 and probably will be every season until the heat death of the sun is that the other coaches have wised up enough to stop giving us bulletin board material.

Won't stop us from raining murder on them in the games, though.
 
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