Box Score Notes

[ibleedhuskyblue]

I’m hopeful, I want him to be successful both defensively and shot making.

He’s 1-8 from 3 in his career here. It’s never looked particularly smooth in the process.

Defensive positioning should be something you’re developing in practice. I do think we can extrapolate a bit on where he’s at.

I’m a traditional scrappyist. I’m usually over positive. We don’t need Samson to shoot 3’s. He’s a real weapon on PNR dives. He will be great running the floor.

He had a big from Northern Arizona throw him so forcefully that he collided with another player and was whistled for a foul. He’s going to be challenged physically against big east 5’s.

He had a really bad “out of position” foul defending the PNR. He didn’t leave his feet at all on the help side in the paint with No Arizona scoring.

Yes he needs more minutes, but I think people need to temper expectations. There’s a lot of talk that Samson can be as effective off the bench as Clingan was. I think that’s a tall order. We had a once in a lifetime 1-2 punch at the 5.

Hurley is using the media to build the kid up. I’m glad he is. We definitely need him to be solid.

I’m worried people are going to get on the kid for not being what they are building him up to be instead of celebrating him for how far he’s come along.

He's the back up center. He only needs to be as good as a back up center is in college.
Our expectations will be fine.
He should jump high, run fast, and be 5 available fouls. That's all we need.

 

[Fan1978]

He's the back up center. He only needs to be as good as a back up center is in college.
Our expectations will be fine.
He should jump high, run fast, and be 5 available fouls. That's all we need.

He will be a lot better than most expect. He has a nice stroke. 1 for 8 is meaningless. Pretty hard to get in rhythm with 8 attempts over 3 years. 14 drives in 1 golf round for god sake.

 

[david]

Our per 40 minute stats after 1 game.

 

[dennismenace]

He's the back up center. He only needs to be as good as a back up center is in college.
Our expectations will be fine.
He should jump high, run fast, and be 5 available fouls. That's all we need.

This is a good conversation going on and while he is the back up center at the moment it may be that we will see more of Youssef when we are looking for defense, shot blocking and rebounding and Samson more for offense. Something like a two-headed backup center. He could also play at the same time as Yousef as one of the four outs with Yousef in. I whole heartedly trust in the staff to work all this out in the practice laboratory with DH as the master chemist. There is just a ton of talent on that bench at any given time and they will forge that into a weapon giving them the time just like last year. It's like they've amassed all this talent and now they are going to unwrap it. DH made some great moves down the stretch last year and he must be confident that together they can assemble the winning formula once they turn the burners on.

 

[CL82]

Our per 40 minute stats after 1 game.
View attachment 92912

The need to swap Andrew Hurley for Cam Spencer just LaSorsa off the page, doesn't it!

 

[david]

The need to swap Andrew Hurley for Cam Spencer just LaSorsa off the page, doesn't it!

A lineup of Andrew Hurley, Singare and Apostolous gives us 120 pts, 40 rebounds, 20 assists, 20 blocks a game just between those 3. Sadly Singare also would draw 20 fouls.

 

[ibleedhuskyblue]

From the Courant on Samson:

Confidence building for Samson Johnson​

Samson Johnson, shaping up to be the Robin to Clingan’s Batman, fell in love with the game of basketball when he was a kid back in Togo, running around blocking shots and dunking on a concrete outdoor court.

After sitting much of last season with an injury, Johnson, with 10 pounds of muscle added in the offseason, was a bit anxious before beginning in his new role and got into some foul trouble early. But he found his home at the rim and dunked five times to finish with 11 points, five rebounds and three blocks despite the four fouls.

“I feel like (Hurley) has been pushing me a lot during practices and my confidence has been going up. It’s just great for me to have the crowd getting involved when I’m dunking, blocking shots and stuff like that,” Johnson said. “I felt like I was a little too aggressive, too anxious to play, I feel like I can fix that really quick. And I’m working on my stance defensively, so yeah, I’ll fix that.”

Hurley, especially knowing Clingan’s minutes will continue to increase and that he could turn to a smaller lineup if necessary, wants him to stay aggressive.

“You can just do it without committing the bad ones,” Hurley said. “We want him to be aggressive and he settled in I thought nicely… It’s just I think getting comfortable on the court, getting more confident out there, having more success, feeling good about himself (Saturday) into next week before we head to the Garden.”

 

[uconnfan68]

Our per 40 minute stats after 1 game.
View attachment 92912

Andrew needs to frame that.