Boatright has a lot of Kemba & Iverson in him.

[huskymania]

Granted one game, but for a players debut, Boatright was impressive. Consider this; he performed at a high level in his first game, against a legit high major program and did so throughout the game including winning time.

I remember watching KU's 2010 freshman combo-guard Josh Selby have an outstanding first game last year after he had to sit out a bunch of games, but that turned out to be the high point of his KU career. But based on watching Ryan in HS and finally in a UConn uniform, I'm convinced he's the real deal.

I had anticipated he'd play at a much more mature level than one would expect and he didn't dispel that believe on Saturday. That's not to say he's not going to make freshman mistakes and have some bad games along the way. Consider how well Napier has been playing, and how horrible his play was on Friday. It's going to happen, and happen more often with Freshman, though Boatshow is very talented.

I replayed part of the game and here's what impressed me:

Sees the floor well and delivers the ball quickly. There were a number of plays where he recognized the open man and delivered the ball to him. A few times he did not get the assist because the player either was fouled or missed a make-able shot.

Big time handle - He's just a freshman and he already has a handle that looks as good if not better than Kemba's. There was a play where the dribbled into traffic, really had no play and somehow dribbled his way back out of trouble. Probably not the best decision, but his escape-ability was impressive there.

Big time shot maker - Wow! He had two amazing drives where he used that big time handle (impressive crossover) to weave his way through traffice, elevate and knock down a pair of very difficult shots. He can also knock down the deep ball, making him extremely dangerous. We haven't seen enough of that to tell if he's going to be a big enough outside threat that defenders will have to play up on him. But if he is, he's going to be able to set up his drives like Ben Gordon used to do, when players tried to close on him quickly. Inside the arc, Kemba had that type of effect, but his 3 point shooting, which improved over time, wasn't as big of a threat as Ben's was. As my title suggests, Boatright's game looks similar to what we've seen from Kemba and Allen Iverson. He's more Iverson's size and is more athletic than Kemba, so the Iverson comparison seems more accurate. Note, I'm not saying he'll be as good as Iverson. Just comparing his style of play. But if he finishes on a consistent basis like he did the other day, he just might come close. What separated AI from the rest of the small athletic guards was his prolific scoring ability. I've never seen a player who was able to score from all over the court with defenders all over him. There were many times that he didn't even see the rim while taking his shot and still found a way to knock down a good number of those shots.

He seems to be a Big Moment guy, like Shad, Kemba and his current backcourt mate, Shabazz. Just about any freshman playing his first game, having to knock down 3 FTs to prevent his team from losing would likely fail. RB calmly went to the line and knocked 'em down. I must admit the last one which was delivered a tad to the left scared me, but it went down. Although Bazz missed a huge FT a few plays earlier, RB gives this team another Plus-FT shooter for end of game situations along with Bazz, Lamb and Daniels. There isn't a coach out there that doesn't dream about having a couple of very good FT shooters to put on the floor during end-of-game situations. JC has at least 4.

RB was fortunate not to have any TOs. He had at least a couple of bad passes that didn't result in TOs. One of his 3s got snuffed out by Snear, who is one of the best perimeter defenders I've seen in a long time.

I wish it was a 5 game suspension. I have little doubt that we would have beaten UCF with him. What he brings to the game is exactly what was missing in that loss. During that time when they squandered the big lead, they really struggled to disrupt UCF's defense. Boatright would have been able to get into the teeth of their D, especially when they went zone, and made enough plays to get that W.

Hi Dogmania longtime follower of the boneyard and recent member. I must say I completely agree with you about Boatright. He has got the speed, the athleticism, penetration ability, and big time shot making ability that will serve this UCONN team well. I believe he should start at point guard. That way Shabazz can play off the ball at the 2 spot where he is more suited because he is slow and doesnt have much athletic ability but he is a great shooter. With Boatright, Napier and Lamb in the starting lineup is when UCONN will be most effectve. However, I beleeive Calhoun likes Boatright coming off the bench to provide a spark for the second unit and I dont expect him to start. Drummond who is an absolute beast and playing more like it everyday of course will be out starting center. The 4 spot is where UCONN needs to figure out who should play the most minutes. I believe Roscoe is best out of the options we have left because he provides toughness, defense, and good all around grit that this team needs. Oriakhi has not progressed it looks at all it seems and is still the same clumsy soft big guy. He needs to get his act together if he wants to get at least 15 to 20 minutes a game because Roscoe and Olander are both playing better than him.

 

[DogMania]

Not saying he is or isn't going to be great. Just saying it's absurd after 1 game to draw all these conclusions that you outlined. "Big time shot maker" "Big moment guy", so if he misses one of those shots, or one of those FTs, he wouldn't have been that? Or that he is more athletic than Kemba? Can we see the guy for more than 33 minutes before we can claim that?

His future seems bright, but don't get offended when after 1 game you draw parallels/comparisons/or whatever you want to call it to Iverson and Kemba and people laugh.

I wasn't trying to be a , because it was an interesting take, but I did laugh at it too.

I took no offense. These boards are all about opinion, agreement and disagreement.

For some of us, it's more than 33 minutes. I've seen him play on TV a couple times and watched some vid clips as well. I've also read a number of articles where analyst who know their stuff have thrown in their 2 cents about his skills, abilities and potential.

I agree a 100%, that as a fan you have to be careful about drawing too many conclusions based on one game. For example, after seeing Josh Selby have a huge game for KU after sitting out the early part of his freshman season, I thought he was going to be a big time instant contributor. Well that never materialized, though partly due to issues between him and his coach and teammates. He just might turn out to be an outstanding NBA player someday. Who knows. But my point is I agree in part with your point.

Where we differ is that based on what I believed about RB before he ever played those 33 minutes, were more than substantiated under conditions that few freshman would even come close to excelling. I won't go through the list, but RB did everything I had hoped for against a legit high major opponent and was at his best when the outcome was in the balance. His debut performance was actually one of the most remarkable ones I've ever seen. He scored in just about every possible way (deep, midrange, in traffic, at the rim), he distributed the ball more often and accurately to the right teammates at the right time. Although I believe he was not credited for any TOs, he had 2 or 3 bad passes, so I'm not blind to that. He came through on what is the hardest FT scenario possible, having to knockdown 3 FTs on the last possession to tie the game. I guess if there were 0 seconds on the clock and he was standing there along, that would add a tad more pressure. I don't remember much about how he did defensively. I recall him struggling with the high screen and staying in front of his man at times, something that all young guards struggle with.

As I said before, he's going to have some bad games. Even the experienced players do. Look at it this way, if a player had a very bad first game, that doesn't mean he won't be a very good player, either sooner or later. But if a player has a very good first game against legit competition, displaying some of the skills you thought he was capable of, there's a good chance the player is legit. Ryan didn't just make one special play against FSU, but multiple plays that few guards, including experienced ones, simply wouldn't have been able to do. If he's not legit, then he sure was damn lucky this past Saturday.

Maybe I'll be proven wrong, but I'm sticking to my guns that RB was and is the most important newcomer to this team. Mostly because the role he fills (providing UConn with that desperately needed 3rd guard and 2nd combo guard), but also due to the maturity of his game that would allow him to come in and contribute right away at a pretty high level. We'll find out if that's the case real soon with legit competitors coming up with Arkansas and Harvard, and then again once Big East foes come knocking on our door with their physical play.

 

[cohenzone]

I remember watching frosh Iverson against UConn at the Civic Center. While obviously hard to contain, I recall saying to my ticket mate that if he played in the 2nd half of the game the way he played in the close first half, UConn would kill them. He did and we did. It took a while for Iverson to become Iverson, but no denying what an exciting player he was. Matching AI is a tall order, but that isn't what we need from him anyway and he showed more control than AI did as a younger player. Hopefully his first game is indicative of what he can do most of the time. The made FTs were impressive.

 

[DogMania]

Granted one game, but for a players debut, Boatright was impressive. Consider this; he performed at a high level in his first game, against a legit high major program and did so throughout the game including winning time.

I remember watching KU's 2010 freshman combo-guard Josh Selby have an outstanding first game last year after he had to sit out a bunch of games, but that turned out to be the high point of his KU career. But based on watching Ryan in HS and finally in a UConn uniform, I'm convinced he's the real deal.

I had anticipated he'd play at a much more mature level than one would expect and he didn't dispel that believe on Saturday. That's not to say he's not going to make freshman mistakes and have some bad games along the way. Consider how well Napier has been playing, and how horrible his play was on Friday. It's going to happen, and happen more often with Freshman, though Boatshow is very talented.

I replayed part of the game and here's what impressed me:

Sees the floor well and delivers the ball quickly. There were a number of plays where he recognized the open man and delivered the ball to him. A few times he did not get the assist because the player either was fouled or missed a make-able shot.

Big time handle - He's just a freshman and he already has a handle that looks as good if not better than Kemba's. There was a play where the dribbled into traffic, really had no play and somehow dribbled his way back out of trouble. Probably not the best decision, but his escape-ability was impressive there.

Big time shot maker - Wow! He had two amazing drives where he used that big time handle (impressive crossover) to weave his way through traffice, elevate and knock down a pair of very difficult shots. He can also knock down the deep ball, making him extremely dangerous. We haven't seen enough of that to tell if he's going to be a big enough outside threat that defenders will have to play up on him. But if he is, he's going to be able to set up his drives like Ben Gordon used to do, when players tried to close on him quickly. Inside the arc, Kemba had that type of effect, but his 3 point shooting, which improved over time, wasn't as big of a threat as Ben's was. As my title suggests, Boatright's game looks similar to what we've seen from Kemba and Allen Iverson. He's more Iverson's size and is more athletic than Kemba, so the Iverson comparison seems more accurate. Note, I'm not saying he'll be as good as Iverson. Just comparing his style of play. But if he finishes on a consistent basis like he did the other day, he just might come close. What separated AI from the rest of the small athletic guards was his prolific scoring ability. I've never seen a player who was able to score from all over the court with defenders all over him. There were many times that he didn't even see the rim while taking his shot and still found a way to knock down a good number of those shots.

He seems to be a Big Moment guy, like Shad, Kemba and his current backcourt mate, Shabazz. Just about any freshman playing his first game, having to knock down 3 FTs to prevent his team from losing would likely fail. RB calmly went to the line and knocked 'em down. I must admit the last one which was delivered a tad to the left scared me, but it went down. Although Bazz missed a huge FT a few plays earlier, RB gives this team another Plus-FT shooter for end of game situations along with Bazz, Lamb and Daniels. There isn't a coach out there that doesn't dream about having a couple of very good FT shooters to put on the floor during end-of-game situations. JC has at least 4.

RB was fortunate not to have any TOs. He had at least a couple of bad passes that didn't result in TOs. One of his 3s got snuffed out by Snear, who is one of the best perimeter defenders I've seen in a long time.

I wish it was a 5 game suspension. I have little doubt that we would have beaten UCF with him. What he brings to the game is exactly what was missing in that loss. During that time when they squandered the big lead, they really struggled to disrupt UCF's defense. Boatright would have been able to get into the teeth of their D, especially when they went zone, and made enough plays to get that W.

This thread goes way back. Apparently Boat has lived up to the expectations that some of us had from the very beginning.

 

[UConn5]

I think that what has gone on with Boatright is what college basketball is supposed to be about. The young man has clearly grown as both a person and a basketball player. Good for him, I hope he enjoys this. I know I have been very impressed by his growth.