Box Score Notes

[Huskybass]

5 in double figures including Samson. Spencer with 5 assists to lead the team. Newton continuing to fill the stat sheet with 14. 7, and 3. Clingan with 12 points in only 15 minutes. Looked great out there to the point where I forgot about any foot injury. Karaban with 22. All American in the making.

 

[storrsroars]

Two of AK's missed 3s were hoisted from ~30 ft out with time on clock. Not sure what that was about. Something he's doing in practice?

 

[GHSWolverines]

My takes
1. Karraban is the glue guy at both ends of the court.
2. Clingkong will dominant. I love his swag. However he continues to need to work on his foul shooting.
3. Triston had an off night from deep. However, he attacked the basket very well.
4. I like Cam but he is no Joey C.
5. Samson looked good but needs to stay out of foul trouble.
6. They play unselfish. 15 assists I believe.
7. I like the freshman. Stewart is going to be good.

 

[husky429]

Two of AK's missed 3s were hoisted from ~30 ft out with time on clock. Not sure what that was about. Something he's doing in practice?

I kinda doubt Hurley is looking for anyone to shoot from beyond NBA range with time on the clock with regularity. Probably just feeling it and taking some risks... it won't happen in big games.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Ball listed as playing 15 minutes. That was a very quiet 15 minutes.

 

[caw]

Ball listed as playing 15 minutes. That was a very quiet 15 minutes.

Defense was OK, had a nice dunk. Some bad shots.

 

[jleves]

My takes

4. I like Cam but he is no Joey C.
5. Samson looked good but needs to stay out of foul trouble.

4. Cam isn't here to replace Joey C. He'll see double or triple the minutes as one of the big pieces. 5 assists, 1 turnover. I think he just was doing the early season Napier role - get other guys involved cause he can get his when he needs to later.

5. Samson limiting the dumb fouls will be one of the most important things for this team to go deep. He needs to be available for 20 minutes some nights. Other than the bad fouls, I thought he looked almost as good as the backup center as Cling did last year. A great change of pace player when he comes in. He's going to have to be able to step out and hit one or two 3s a game.

 

[TheChamps990411]

4. Cam isn't here to replace Joey C. He'll see double or triple the minutes as one of the big pieces. 5 assists, 1 turnover. I think he just was doing the early season Napier role - get other guys involved cause he can get his when he needs to later.

5. Samson limiting the dumb fouls will be one of the most important things for this team to go deep. He needs to be available for 20 minutes some nights. Other than the bad fouls, I thought he looked almost as good as the backup center as Cling did last year. A great change of pace player when he comes in. He's going to have to be able to step out and hit one or two 3s a game.

Samson finally gave us all a glimpse of what Dan Hurley has been talking about. He said this guy had Nba lottery talent. What i liked is that he seem to get comfortable as the game went along. Sure the fouls werent good but its game one and he seem to get better as the game went on. Also one of the fouls was bs because he was shoved into a moving screen. If he stays healthy he`ll get better and better.

 

[TheChamps990411]

My takes

7. Stewart is going to be good.

I was very impressed with Stewart tonight. He looks like an NBA wing physically already. Hes huge! I have to see more of him but in that short glimpse he impressed.

 

[M.S.G.]

Samson looked springy and active, LOVE THAT.

Castle looked poised as could be, gonna be a dogggggggggg

Karaban is the alpha now, putting the ball on the floor, loooooooove it

Can't wait for the next one, need another Andrew Hurley 3

 

[coachn]

Impressed with Yousif block.
Ball is the real deal . Wait you'll see.

 

[EZPass]

Can't wait for the next one, need another Andrew Hurley 3

 

[Hunt for 7]

Cam may not be Joey C but I think he is a better all around player. Reminds me a bit of Doron Shaffer.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Ball listed as playing 15 minutes. That was a very quiet 15 minutes.

Defense was OK, had a nice dunk. Some bad shots.

Impressed with Yousif block.
Ball is the real deal . Wait you'll see.

I missed about 30 seconds of game time watching last night. My timing during TO's for snacks and drinks and the like was off.

Ball's dunk must have been during that time as I certainly don't remember him with a dunk.

 

[caw]

I missed about 30 seconds of game time watching last night. My timing during TO's for snacks and drinks and the like was off.

Ball's dunk must have been during that time as I certainly don't remember him with a dunk.

That was my bad. Not a dunk...a lay in. Had to rewatch the highlights to see it again. Still a nice move.

 

[Dibbie]

I missed about 30 seconds of game time watching last night. My timing during TO's for snacks and drinks and the like was off.

Ball's dunk must have been during that time as I certainly don't remember him with a dunk

Layup…You got duped into admitting you missed 30 seconds of game time. Guess your BY posting is off too. No worries, it was only game 1

 

[Kenny11]

Karaban has gotten stronger. He’s a very good player. Now it’s time for him to be an alpha on the court instead of the solid presence he was as a freshman. I like seeing him embrace that.

 

[TMB4405]

Karaban has gotten stronger. He’s a very good player. Now it’s time for him to be an alpha on the court instead of the solid presence he was as a freshman. I like seeing him embrace that.

He is great. Plays a very smart game and if there is a big shot I have no doubt it goes in.

 

[Deleted at users request]

Ball listed as playing 15 minutes. That was a very quiet 15 minutes.

Most of his offense was catch and shoot 3s. With all that athleticism he has I’m hoping he attacks more. He did have a few nice cuts towards the rim though too.

One got him that layup and he got stuffed on another.

 

[Deleted at users request]

Stew looked super impressive. Offensively he looked like the 2nd most ready freshman out the group. Could do it all.

Ross looked heady and long on defense. That pass to a cutting Karaban was great.

Spencer looked very passive this game which is fine. He’s a 5th year senior he should be ready when he needs to step up.

Newton looked solid driving the ball. Drew a lot of fouls. Got up for a lot of rebounds too. Felt like every time I looked up he was in the air for one of those or a block.

Karaban was the player of the game. Made everything look easy. Want to see how the drives look against better comp but that was encouraging to see. Very efficient too didn’t need a lot of dribbles to get to the rim.

DC still working back from the foot but still looked dominant.

SJ has crazy athleticism. Him and DC as lob threats are going to open up a lot on offense. He looks like he still has work to do with overall positioning on offense and defense to work on it fouling as much. The dunks and blocks should be of abundance though.

Castle looked like he had some first game jitters but you can see the talent. I hope in the future Hurley lets him get more time at PG with Newton on the bench. He looked to come alive for the few minutes that was his role. Defense looked pretty good though.

 

[OkaForPrez]

4. I like Cam but he is no Joey C.

This is a feature, not a bug.

 

[OkaForPrez]

Samson finally gave us all a glimpse of what Dan Hurley has been talking about. He said this guy had Nba lottery talent. What i liked is that he seem to get comfortable as the game went along. Sure the fouls werent good but its game one and he seem to get better as the game went on. Also one of the fouls was bs because he was shoved into a moving screen. If he stays healthy he`ll get better and better.

It’s year 3 and Samson is still often not in the right position defensively. The hand check foul on the pick and roll was particularly bad. He rarely elevates from the help side on penetration at the rim. We are very vulnerable in the paint when he comes in.

He looked very good offensively. And that’s exciting, because he’ll need to keep pace with the points I’m concerned we’ll be giving up at the big East level when he’s in the game.

 

[JustbrewitMan]

Karaban has gotten stronger. He’s a very good player. Now it’s time for him to be an alpha on the court instead of the solid presence he was as a freshman. I like seeing him embrace that.

Yea I loved that Alex took it right at their big goon center (#7), drew contact, and finished.

BTW, NAU was not a bad team. Guards were small and outmatched but could definitely shoot. Their center was really a great 1st game matchup for Donovan and Samson. Physical, big presence. Didn't make anything easy.

 

[JustbrewitMan]

I kinda doubt Hurley is looking for anyone to shoot from beyond NBA range with time on the clock with regularity. Probably just feeling it and taking some risks... it won't happen in big games.

It was definitely a designed play for a fastbreak trailing 3 from the top of the key. I have no problem with that shot/play at any time (other than just maybe the lead guard needs to drive a couple steps more...stop a few feet inside the 3pt arc so the trailer's shot is a few feet closer)...gives the shooter a great in-rhythm look.

 

[Palatine]

Ball got on the ball on floor once and they announcers gave the credit to Castle.

 

[Fan1978]

Two of AK's missed 3s were hoisted from ~30 ft out with time on clock. Not sure what that was about. Something he's doing in practice?

Shabazz used to do the same. Will
Open up the floor that much more

 

[Fan1978]

It’s year 3 and Samson is still often not in the right position defensively. The hand check foul on the pick and roll was particularly bad. He rarely elevates from the help side on penetration at the rim. We are very vulnerable in the paint when he comes in.

He looked very good offensively. And that’s exciting, because he’ll need to keep pace with the points I’m concerned we’ll be giving up at the big East level when he’s in the game.

Samson has logged how many minutes in 2 years. He needs game reps, defense will
Come.

 

[Hunt for 7]

It’s year 3 and Samson is still often not in the right position defensively. The hand check foul on the pick and roll was particularly bad. He rarely elevates from the help side on penetration at the rim. We are very vulnerable in the paint when he comes in.

He looked very good offensively. And that’s exciting, because he’ll need to keep pace with the points I’m concerned we’ll be giving up at the big East level when he’s in the game.

Well the freshman big looked good defensively he could be an option. I agree Samson has the tools but don’t see him being the defensive force we need. And if his shot looks like it did last night he is not going to be stretching anything when he comes in the game. Not trying to be harsh because overall he played ok, but you can see we’re he will be challenged.

 

[RichZ]

Foul shooting... We shot 65%, which doesn't look horrible, but sans Clingan and Castle's combined 9 of 17 for 53% , the rest of the team shot 17 of 20, for 85% from the line. Problem is, those two guys will probably get fouled a lot. We knew coming in that Clingan would be a target for aggressive D, would correspondingly spend a lot of time at the line, and his uhm... deficiency in that area would be an issue. But Castle's poor FT shooting could be a more serious issue going forward unless last night proves to be a fluke.

 

[RichZ]

I agree Samson has the tools but don’t see him being the defensive force we need. And if his shot looks like it did last night he is not going to be stretching anything when he comes in the game. Not trying to be harsh because overall he played ok, but you can see we’re he will be challenged.

He attempted ONE outside shot last night, and your writing off his ability/value from the outside based on one attempt?