Castle quote that Solo Ball should paint on his wall.

[HooperScooper]

Solo has to get at least some minutes. He has too much athleticism and talent to waste and we want him back next year. PT is the bogeyman for players moving.

Don't worry, Hurley's got this. Communication is the key.

Freshman Jayden Ross saw some minutes early in the season, but is now one of the last players off the bench. Hurley believes the athletic, energetic forward has bought in to the idea that his future is still bright in Storrs.

"We try to stay in the ears and the minds of all of our young players," the coach said. "You're currently in a program that, for the last season-and-a-half, has done college basketball better than anyone else has done it, in terms of winning. But also, from a player development standpoint, this is a pretty good program to be in. But you've got to pay your dues. Andre (Jackson Jr.) did it early in his career, Jordan Hawkins did it early on in his career. You've got to just trust us. I don't think there's a better place to be than this place is for Jaylin (Stewart) and Jayden and Solo (Ball) and Youssouf (Singare). They're probably all not playing as much as they'd like to, but you're in one of the premiere places you can play, with a coaching staff that is truly committed to these guys."

The question from a media member starts at about 13:30 of this video.

 

[HooperScooper]

Yeah im a bit disappointed in SB. Far too much talent there to not make a bigger impact on this team. Hes built like a mack truck for a guard, he can shoot the ball and hes a high tier athlete. His problem is between his ears. I dont know what it may be but its in his head because the physical talent is all there.

It's called being a freshman. There's a cure for it. It's called being a sophomore.

 

[Spaceman213J]

Ball sometimes, just appears to be going a hair too fast. In the games he has played well, he seems a bit more settled.

As he develops, I'd like to see him develop a bit of a back down game like many of the Nova guards have. With Ball's wingspan and touch, he could probably get a few easy hoops per game with that. Have him set a back pick, post him and reverse the ball back to his side, dump it down and see what he could do. I think it will be there in time.

 

[TheChamps990411]

It's called being a freshman. There's a cure for it. It's called being a sophomore.

True.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Don't worry, Hurley's got this. Communication is the key.

Freshman Jayden Ross saw some minutes early in the season, but is now one of the last players off the bench. Hurley believes the athletic, energetic forward has bought in to the idea that his future is still bright in Storrs.

"We try to stay in the ears and the minds of all of our young players," the coach said. "You're currently in a program that, for the last season-and-a-half, has done college basketball better than anyone else has done it, in terms of winning. But also, from a player development standpoint, this is a pretty good program to be in. But you've got to pay your dues. Andre (Jackson Jr.) did it early in his career, Jordan Hawkins did it early on in his career. You've got to just trust us. I don't think there's a better place to be than this place is for Jaylin (Stewart) and Jayden and Solo (Ball) and Youssouf (Singare). They're probably all not playing as much as they'd like to, but you're in one of the premiere places you can play, with a coaching staff that is truly committed to these guys."

The question from a media member starts at about 13:30 of this video.

This new reality is annoying but may as well get over it when we’re winning like we do.

 

[yungdowork]

Obviously, 65% of his shot attempts coming from 3 is way too high, but he hasn't shown the confidence to regularly beat his guy off the dribble, and he hasn't finished well near the rim either. At any given time, he is likely the 3rd or 4th best ballhandler and 3rd or 4th best shooter on the floor for us. That guy generally doesn't get a lot of plays called for him.

I think it's just a symptom of playing on a defending national champion. There's teams all over the country where he would get 20+ minutes to continue to work out the kinks, but we've only been able to give him 11 during BE play. We have 4 starters who are averaging 30+ minutes (okay, Castle only at 28.3 in BE play), and he's the 3rd guy off the bench. Hawkins went from having a very similar freshman year to a lottery pick in one year, so all we can do is have faith and patience.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Obviously, 65% of his shot attempts coming from 3 is way too high, but he hasn't shown the confidence to regularly beat his guy off the dribble, and he hasn't finished well near the rim either. At any given time, he is likely the 3rd or 4th best ballhandler and 3rd or 4th best shooter on the floor for us. That guy generally doesn't get a lot of plays called for him.

I think it's just a symptom of playing on a defending national champion. There's teams all over the country where he would get 20+ minutes to continue to work out the kinks, but we've only been able to give him 11 during BE play. We have 4 starters who are averaging 30+ minutes (okay, Castle only at 28.3 in BE play), and he's the 3rd guy off the bench. Hawkins went from having a very similar freshman year to a lottery pick in one year, so all we can do is have faith and patience.

Hate the fact that the poor handling of Hawkins freshmen year is now getting flipped into it being a right of passage to be bad as a freshman now. When in reality, he should’ve been given the green light from the jump and it was obvious he was going to explode once he actually played. It had nothing to do with him “paying dues”.

That’s also not Solo’s situation as he definitely doesn’t deserve to be the guy over anyone in front of him like Hawkins did. But damn reading quotes about Hawkins and Samson’s situations being the “blueprint” just pisses me off.

 

[yungdowork]

Hate the fact that the poor handling of Hawkins freshmen year is now getting flipped into it being a right of passage to be bad as a freshman now. When in reality, he should’ve been given the green light from the jump and it was obvious he was going to explode once he actually played. It had nothing to do with him “paying dues”.

That’s also not Solo’s situation as he definitely doesn’t deserve to be the guy over anyone in front of him like Hawkins did. But damn reading quotes about Hawkins and Samson’s situations being the “blueprint” just pisses me off.

What are you talking about man? Hawkins had a ton of issues his freshman year, namely his confidence and his handle. It was very obvious in real time that he suffered some major confidence issues after he turned it over during the Michigan State game, and he spent a large portion of the year trying to regain that confidence. And that's not even mentioning that he shot 35% from the field with a negative A/TO ratio. I wonder why someone would compare that to Solo who has mediocre shooting splits while having trouble with confidence and beating his guy off the dribble.

Hawkins' situation is the blueprint because the landscape of college basketball changed drastically in 2020, the year before Hawkins came here, and he is the first high-profile recruit it applied to. The widespread availability of high-caliber upperclassmen transfers have made it so the average 4-star recruit that signs to a major program has less opportunities and has to spend more time developing before they see the floor. It is happening all over college basketball.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

What are you talking about man? Hawkins had a ton of issues his freshman year, namely his confidence and his handle. It was very obvious in real time that he suffered some major confidence issues after he turned it over during the Michigan State game, and he spent a large portion of the year trying to regain that confidence. And that's not even mentioning that he shot 35% from the field with a negative A/TO ratio. I wonder why someone would compare that to Solo who has mediocre shooting splits while having trouble with confidence and beating his guy off the dribble.

Hawkins' situation is the blueprint because the landscape of college basketball changed drastically in 2020, the year before Hawkins came here, and he is the first high-profile recruit it applied to. The widespread availability of high-caliber upperclassmen transfers have made it so the average 4-star recruit that signs to a major program has less opportunities and has to spend more time developing before they see the floor. It is happening all over college basketball.

I explicitly said Hawkin’s and Solo’s situations aren’t the same.

The common denominator of all these recruits that come in is confidence issues. At some point it’s not their fault they all have confidence issues. Only one who didn’t was Karaban and that was because he HAD to play. Not counting bigs. It sounds like a cop out to not have to actually work with guys as freshmen.

It doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things because Hurley’s way is going to win us games regardless. It’s just annoying to hear that as I rewatch a game where Marcus Williams is running around throwing dimes on the road during Big East play on a NC team. Playing absolutely fearless. Like most of Calhoun’s freshmen did. It’s almost like confidence can be coached.

 

[yungdowork]

I explicitly said Hawkin’s and Solo’s situations aren’t the same.

The common denominator of all these recruits that come in is confidence issues. At some point it’s not their fault they all have confidence issues. Only one who didn’t was Karaban and that was because he HAD to play. Not counting bigs. It sounds like a cop out to not have to actually work with guys as freshmen.

It doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things because Hurley’s way is going to win us games regardless. It’s just annoying to hear that as I rewatch a game where Marcus Williams is running around throwing dimes on the road during Big East play on a NC team. Playing absolutely fearless. Like most of Calhoun’s freshmen did. It’s almost like confidence can be coached.

What about Sanogo who averaged 14/9? (Edit: Whoops that was sophomore year, but he was BE all-freshman team) Last year Clingan was a major contributor and clearly did not lack confidence. We literally have a freshman on the current team who is playing over 28 mins a game in conference play and just scored 20 in our last game.

I legitimately don’t understand what you’re arguing. You think the coaching staff is coaching the confidence out of these players? Some players just have skill sets that require more development and they face more growing pains transitioning to a higher level.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

What about Sanogo who averaged 14/9? (Edit: Whoops that was sophomore year, but he was BE all-freshman team) Last year Clingan was a major contributor and clearly did not lack confidence. We literally have a freshman on the current team who is playing over 28 mins a game in conference play and just scored 20 in our last game.

I legitimately don’t understand what you’re arguing. You think the coaching staff is coaching the confidence out of these players? Some players just have skill sets that require more development and they face more growing pains transitioning to a higher level.

I said not including bigs. The game is much simpler for them. It doesn’t take much thinking to run rim to rim, rebound, and block shots.

But yes, the very tight leashes mixed with Hurley openly not trusting them for sure leads to confidence issues. Castle is an exception for obvious reasons.

 

[dennismenace]

Spencer and Newton played 39 and 38 minutes last night. If Solo was playing well enough there’s no reason he couldn’t help get those down closer to 30 minutes for both of them.

Agree. They showed it down the stretch too other than free throws. This is no time to shorten the rotation. Think DH learned that last year. Don't know why he turns down the pressure against aggressive teams. They need a taste of what they are dishing out. Solo could have spelled both of those two guys and just really got on Carter and/or Gaines . They played as many minutes as Spencer and Newton. 3-5 minutes each. We are going to need Solo down the stretch and very badly next year.

 

[yungdowork]

I said not including bigs. The game is much simpler for them. It doesn’t take much thinking to run rim to rim, rebound, and block shots.

But yes, the very tight leashes mixed with Hurley openly not trusting them for sure leads to confidence issues. Castle is an exception for obvious reasons.

Solo averages the 5th most minutes among all Big East freshmen (Castle is #1). He plays more than any freshman on 7 teams in our conference. That does not seem like an exceptionally short leash to me. I’m pretty sure we’ve given more minutes to freshmen than any other team in the Big East.

I’m rooting for Solo and I think there’s a good player in there, but legitimately what else do you expect Hurley to do to get him going? It’s February.

 

[RedStickHusky]

They know what they signed up for and their day is coming. It's probably not this year though. When you compete for 'ships, next year takes a back seat in season.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Solo averages the 5th most minutes among all Big East freshmen (Castle is #1). He plays more than any freshman on 7 teams in our conference. That does not seem like an exceptionally short leash to me. I’m pretty sure we’ve given more minutes to freshmen than any other team in the Big East.

I’m rooting for Solo and I think there’s a good player in there, but legitimately what else do you expect Hurley to do to get him going? It’s February.

His minutes have been cut drastically. There was a large stretch he had to play with Castle out and then again with Clingan out. Now that they are both back he’s hardly seeing the floor. It’s probably too late to get him going at this point.

But I have no doubt once the show is his and he’s being used properly, he’ll show how good of a player he is. Same as Hawkins.

Agree. They showed it down the stretch too other than free throws. This is no time to shorten the rotation. Think DH learned that last year. Don't know why he turns down the pressure against aggressive teams. They need a taste of what they are dishing out. Solo could have spelled both of those two guys and just really got on Carter and/or Gaines . They played as many minutes as Spencer and Newton. 3-5 minutes each. We are going to need Solo down the stretch and very badly next year.

Solo is a nice defensive change of pace from Spencer and Newton. Spencer let a lot of backdoors get him in the 2nd half. Solo usually plays really good defense on guys who end up hitting difficult shots over him anyways. Lol

 

[Spaceman213J]

It's called being a freshman. There's a cure for it. It's called being a sophomore.

There are two also words that have affected his playing time and they are "Cam" and "Spencer".

 

[NotADime89]

Solo is a nice defensive change of pace from Spencer and Newton. Spencer let a lot of backdoors get him in the 2nd half. Solo usually plays really good defense on guys who end up hitting difficult shots over him anyways. Lol

So you're suggesting DH cut Cams minutes for Solo?? Come on man....

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

So you're suggesting DH cut Cams minutes for Solo?? Come on man....

I don’t think asking a guy who play 38 out of 40 available minutes yesterday to play closer to 30 is that big of a deal.

It’s not cutting his minutes. It’s giving him rest.

 

[7774]

Is this idiot going to have this same argument in yet another thread? Really?

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Hate the fact that the poor handling of Hawkins freshmen year is now getting flipped into it being a right of passage to be bad as a freshman now. When in reality, he should’ve been given the green light from the jump and it was obvious he was going to explode once he actually played. It had nothing to do with him “paying dues”.

That’s also not Solo’s situation as he definitely doesn’t deserve to be the guy over anyone in front of him like Hawkins did. But damn reading quotes about Hawkins and Samson’s situations being the “blueprint” just pisses me off.

How could you possibly question anything that this coaching staff does at this point? We've got guys in the league with more on the way, won the title, are ranked number 1, have a stud guard coming in next year along with another 4* forward and with our staff + NIL are a top 5 portal destination (at minimum).

 

[Palatine]

Guys chill out. Castle and Ball are obviously two totally different players. Couple of things to consider here:

1. We have no idea what Hurley has told Ball to do offensively out there. Maybe he gave him a total green light for three, etc. I'm sure he's not discouraging him from getting to the rim once in awhile but who knows what his actual instructions are
2. Freshmen without handles as good as Castle take awhile to get confidence to drive straight north and south, let alone actually beat guys off the dribble. Remember Hawkins? Hawkins at least played on a team without a total target on his back and without crazy expectations, so he could take some risks. Solo dribbling now is far down the list of things I want to see happen on offense

Long story short - I think he'll be fine, I think his shooting stroke looks good, I think once he adjusts to not just being able to athlete his way by everyone like HS he'll be fine at getting to the rim, and I think he deserves a couple more minutes a game.

The post was not about Ball and Castle being similar players. It was not about dribbling or skill sets. It was about the approach that Castle takes to playing offense. Ball hunts shots and forces offense. Ball has fallen in love with the three point shot and abandoned other parts of his game.

In short, Castle has embraced the system and uses it to enhance his strengths. The game comes to him. Ball has reduced his own role in the system to focus on one part of his game. If Ball wants more minutes he needs to follow Castle's example. If he does, he will grow his game and his time on the floor.

I can tell you what Hurley did NOT say to Ball. "Go stand at the three point line and we'll get you the ball." Hurley has said that he believes in Ball's ability to shoot. The shooting is real. To improve his game and become a more complete player, he has to embrace the system.

 

[inWV]

What are you talking about man? Hawkins had a ton of issues his freshman year, namely his confidence and his handle. It was very obvious in real time that he suffered some major confidence issues after he turned it over during the Michigan State game, and he spent a large portion of the year trying to regain that confidence. And that's not even mentioning that he shot 35% from the field with a negative A/TO ratio. I wonder why someone would compare that to Solo who has mediocre shooting splits while having trouble with confidence and beating his guy off the dribble.

Hawkins' situation is the blueprint because the landscape of college basketball changed drastically in 2020, the year before Hawkins came here, and he is the first high-profile recruit it applied to. The widespread availability of high-caliber upperclassmen transfers have made it so the average 4-star recruit that signs to a major program has less opportunities and has to spend more time developing before they see the floor. It is happening all over college basketball.

The freshman level Hawkins would have played less than Castle is playing with the roster UCONN has. Diarra is trusted on defense and has been productive on offense when needed. I think we might see more Ball as NCAA tourney play begins.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Is this idiot going to have this same argument in yet another thread? Really?

There’s an ignore button. Won’t hurt my feelings for you to use it. Are you an idiot for not using it?

How could you possibly question anything that this coaching staff does at this point? We've got guys in the league with more on the way, won the title, are ranked number 1, have a stud guard coming in next year along with another 4* forward and with our staff + NIL are a top 5 portal destination (at minimum).

Calhoun won 3 championships and people didn’t follow along to everything he did.

Things are nuanced and nobody is perfect. There’s an issue with Solo Ball, im just giving my opinion on what the issue is in a Solo Ball thread about it. This was after earlier in the year I called this exact thing happening when I was complaining about him jacking up those meaningless 3s and he was being encouraged to do so. Sorry to those annoyed that I point that out.

Now we’re here.

Still the #1 team in the country and I don’t see this team not at minimum being final four caliber. So it does feel weird to complain because at the end of the day it’s clearly not going to affect winning. Just think some of the guys Hurley recruits could be even better if he invested in getting them involved earlier.

 

[JustbrewitMan]

Hate the fact that the poor handling of Hawkins freshmen year is now getting flipped into it being a right of passage to be bad as a freshman now. When in reality, he should’ve been given the green light from the jump and it was obvious he was going to explode once he actually played. It had nothing to do with him “paying dues”.

That’s also not Solo’s situation as he definitely doesn’t deserve to be the guy over anyone in front of him like Hawkins did. But damn reading quotes about Hawkins and Samson’s situations being the “blueprint” just pisses me off.

Man you really continue to up the ante for having the title of the most bizarro takes on the 'Yard.

 

[dennismenace]

So you're suggesting DH cut Cams minutes for Solo?? Come on man....

What I am saying is that 38 and 39 minutes for Cam and Newton isn't optimum when you have a reserve like Solo. His time is being drastically reduced (2 mins) and I think it is shortsighted. We started using the bench more and were aggressive especially on D last year and we ran other teams down by so doing. This carried through right through to the NC. It's not an "either or thing" (dialectic) We have a deeper and better bench than Providence. Unless there are things we don't know about I think this will hurt us in the long run imo.