Blue/White Scrimmage | The Boneyard

Blue/White Scrimmage

My wife and I were able to attend Saturday’s scrimmage here’s my take

-Best I’ve ever seen Hassan Diarra, in control of the sets and aggressive to the rim. Made some incredible buckets at the tin. Also hit a huge three late. I talked to him afterwards and we spoke at length about steps he needs to take to become a leader for this team. He wants it.
-Castle looks like a man relative to the other guards but he may need some time to settle in. The coaches were particularly tough on him but at the end of it, always out their arms around him and showed him what to do
-Solo Ball oozes silent assassin, not scared of the moments and wants the ball. Man, is he an athlete.
-Spencer and Newton hit a bunch of threes. Newton was on fire. Incredible.
-Samson is definitely more confident, they ran some sets to get him above the rim, defense is improving— rebounding will be key.
-Yosef had 3-4 steals, and at one point Hurley said “why does he keep stealing the ball?!”
 

Attachments

  • IMG_5384.jpeg
    IMG_5384.jpeg
    50.3 KB · Views: 468
I know we should not do this, but should we be concerned about so little commentary on Steph Castle? Hurley did not recently, now Seth. Hoping it’s a case of “Coach speak” motivation.
 
tomtom80 said:
I know we should not do this, but should we be concerned about so little commentary on Steph Castle? Hurley did not recently, now Seth. Hoping it’s a case of “Coach speak” motivation.
Expand ...
no need to worry on castle, he’s gonna be a stud. But his role is to command an offense and that’s a big learning curve.

It’ll take some time.
 
tomtom80 said:
I know we should not do this, but should we be concerned about so little commentary on Steph Castle? Hurley did not recently, now Seth. Hoping it’s a case of “Coach speak” motivation.
Expand ...
You should pay no attention whatsoever to what a coach in any sport has to say, ever. They don’t say things for purposes of their truth — why would you waste your time analyzing their speech as if you could believe them even if you understood them.

Having said that, you can take the Seth Greenberg analysis as meaning that, at least based on one scrimmage, Castle isn’t ready today to take the team on his shoulders and star in early October. You know who else wasn’t ready to carry the team at the start of their true freshmen seasons? Rip, Ray, Ben Gordon, Okafor, Shabazz, Kemba, as well as more recently Hawkins and Jackson. Our expectations for him are that he comes and has a more of an impact as a true freshman than anyone we’ve ever had. Maybe that will happen. Or maybe he’ll have an important, positive impact as he grows into college ball without playing like he’s ready for the NBA from day one. Or maybe isn’t nearly the college ready prospect many think.

Time will tell. But if you want to worry, I’d spend more time worrying about DC’s foot.
 
.-.
businesslawyer said:
You should pay no attention whatsoever to what a coach in any sport has to say, ever. They don’t say things for purposes of their truth — why would you waste your time analyzing their speech as if you could believe them even if you understood them.

Having said that, you can take the Seth Greenberg analysis as meaning that, at least based on one scrimmage, Castle isn’t ready today to take the team on his shoulders and star in early October. You know who else wasn’t ready to carry the team at the start of their true freshmen seasons? Rip, Ray, Ben Gordon, Okafor, Shabazz, Kemba, as well as more recently Hawkins and Jackson. Our expectations for him are that he comes and has a more of an impact as a true freshman than anyone we’ve ever had. Maybe that will happen. Or maybe he’ll have an important, positive impact as he grows into college ball without playing like he’s ready for the NBA from day one. Or maybe isn’t nearly the college ready prospect many think.

Time will tell. But if you want to worry, I’d spend more time worrying about DC’s foot.
Expand ...

So he's not Khalid? Good thing he has Newton and Cam in the backcourt with him.
 
How does Stewart look? He didn't play in the international games so just wondering how he is doing.
 
caw said:
So he's not Khalid? Good thing he has Newton and Cam in the backcourt with him.
Expand ...
That's a fair statement. You pointed out one player, who was never an NBA athlete, who came in and took over a team in certain ways from day one. On the other hand, my list of all americans and high draft choices who didn't is still there. So I fully agree that nothing is impossible. But where do you think the smart money is?
 
businesslawyer said:
You should pay no attention whatsoever to what a coach in any sport has to say, ever. They don’t say things for purposes of their truth — why would you waste your time analyzing their speech as if you could believe them even if you understood them.
Expand ...

This. Smart coaches understand the importance and PR value of being good with the media. Hurley is smart.

Dan Hurley may occasionally let something slip. But it's called coachspeak for reason. It's the art of saying absolutely nothing using words to do it. They will point out things they think are obvious but may not be obvious to you or I. They may be emphasizing things that they have been stressing to the team. None of it is particularly meaningful or important.

Trying figure out his opinion of Castle from these media sessions is a fool's errand. My guess is that Castle is right where Hurley wants him to be.
 
businesslawyer said:
That's a fair statement. You pointed out one player, who was never an NBA athlete, who came in and took over a team in certain ways from day one. On the other hand, my list of all americans and high draft choices who didn't is still there. So I fully agree that nothing is impossible. But where do you think the smart money is?
Expand ...
Plastics...
 
.-.
Castle will probably turn out to be a stud and this will be a mute point, but we are in a unique position where if he's not ready/underperforms expectations we still have the potential to be very very good. Right now I'd project him as the 5th most impactful player on the team (behind Newton, Spencer, AK, DC). If Diarra and some of the other freshman are looking good we'll have plenty of guys to fill the role if need be.
 
businesslawyer said:
You should pay no attention whatsoever to what a coach in any sport has to say, ever. They don’t say things for purposes of their truth — why would you waste your time analyzing their speech as if you could believe them even if you understood them.
Expand ...
I don't buy the ever part. While Calhoun was 99% coachspeak, Hurley is much less so. If Castle was killing it, I bet he'd say something to that effect. But I'm not concerned, it's a process.
 
businesslawyer said:
That's a fair statement. You pointed out one player, who was never an NBA athlete, who came in and took over a team in certain ways from day one. On the other hand, my list of all americans and high draft choices who didn't is still there. So I fully agree that nothing is impossible. But where do you think the smart money is?
Expand ...
And you named a bunch of players, only two of them are point guards.
 
Matt1010 said:
Castle will probably turn out to be a stud and this will be a mute point, but we are in a unique position where if he's not ready/underperforms expectations we still have the potential to be very very good. Right now I'd project him as the 5th most impactful player on the team (behind Newton, Spencer, AK, DC). If Diarra and some of the other freshman are looking good we'll have plenty of guys to fill the role if need be.
Expand ...
He might be a star and could possibly be the best player on the team. We don't need him to be, we have the luxury of having a 5th year senior point guard starting and a freshman stud point guard starting along with a 5th year senior transfer starter who can do some playmaking.
 
Castle was the leading scorer in Europe. Stewart said he’s been the best freshman so far. Hurley is playing the long game with Castle. This is all to motivate and push him to the level Hurley knows he can get to. We need him to repeat and Hurley knows this.
 
UConn runs one of the most complicated systems for a new guard to learn, period. Let alone a freshman. The offense is built around running sets on sets on sets (on sets on sets) that take months to perfect and Castle also has to get used to the game plan not being geared to simply putting the ball in his hands and making something happen.

The defensive intensity has been a leap up even for veteran players transferring from teams that played in the NCAA tournament the year before, and the work ethic and culture needed to survive practice alone day in and day out are legendary.

Last year around this time, the whispers were that UConn had everything but a point guard with Newton trying to make all of these leaps from another college. It took Tristen about half a season to really get it, but the last time we saw him he was the best damn guard on the court in the National Championship game.

Steph will be just fine, he’s taking a Masters class as a freshman. But he’s got the best professors in the country teaching it.
 
Last edited:
.-.
superjohn said:
And you named a bunch of players, only two of them are point guards.
Expand ...
So your view is that a point guard is much more likely to be able to carry a team as a true freshman than players are other positions? O.K., you're entitled to your opinion. I think experts think it's much, much more likely that you can star on the wing as a frosh, but if you want to die on your hill, go for it.
 
Also keep in mind. Castle is not just a pg. He’s 6’7. He can play the 1,2 or 3. He’ll provide value early on even as he learns to be a college pg
 
businesslawyer said:
So your view is that a point guard is much more likely to be able to carry a team as a true freshman than players are other positions? O.K., you're entitled to your opinion. I think experts think it's much, much more likely that you can star on the wing as a frosh, but if you want to die on your hill, go for it.
Expand ...
Not necessarily but point guard is the most important position on the floor IMO and it's often times/usually where leadership on the court comes from.

It's not about starring, you brought up carrying a team. As talented as Ben Gordon and Jordan Hawkins are they weren't even ready to carry the team as upperclassmen. They could give you explosive scoring games and make clutch baskets that have a huge impact on winning a game but they weren't the guys who would carry the team for the whole season. They didn't have leadership personalities and they didn't lift everyone else's games.

None of this really matters as Castle doesn't have to carry the team.
 
.-.
Coachspeak is about knowing what buttons you're pushing and what buttons you're trying not to push; and always knowing who you're messaging regardless of who you're talking to.
 
This team will be tested early and often during a time when it will be working out a lot of wrinkles. The shmoes on the board will pound their chest and bemoan this and that. The usual suspects will emerge from their national championship hibernation to resume their roles as board irritants. The counterpointers will stand vigilant and tit for tat them.

Time will pass.

March will come. We'll be under seeded. The bandwagon will have shed some fleas. We'll get hot, the fleas will jump back on like we were never itchy.

The CBB community at large will groan. How do they get so lucky?

And so it goes.
 
businesslawyer said:
That's a fair statement. You pointed out one player, who was never an NBA athlete, who came in and took over a team in certain ways from day one. On the other hand, my list of all americans and high draft choices who didn't is still there. So I fully agree that nothing is impossible. But where do you think the smart money is?
Expand ...

I just have to think you took my post the wrong way.

I’m not sure how you did but you need to read it as emphasizing how Khalid was the only UConn freshman to take over in the last 25 years. And agreeing it didn’t matter a ton bc of Newton and Spencer.

I have to think you added tone that wasn’t there.
 
UCfor3 said:
How does Stewart look? He didn't play in the international games so just wondering how he is doing.
Expand ...
Don't know if his interview from a few days ago was posted ? But he said he lost around 30lbs because he felt sluggish, worked on his diet and he was at 195lbs when he got to Storrs, which was noticeable. He said he's gained back muscle and is now up to around 220lbs.
 
.-.
You must log in or register to reply here.

Forum statistics

Threads
168,606
Messages
4,585,203
Members
10,496
Latest member
rONIn


Top Bottom