Castle quote that Solo Ball should paint on his wall.

[REB1094]

Not sure if this is a hot take but I think Solo doesn’t get minutes is because of his defense, not his offense. Also obviously that we just have 7 guys ahead of him who are no brainer high-minute guys

He doesn’t turn the ball over. He hustles for offensive rebounds or at least keeps balls alive at the rim. I just checked his 3P numbers, he’s 32% on the year but that is dragged down from early season. Since December, he’s 13-30 (43%) with lights out performances against Xavier and UNC

But on defense he gets blown by often, gets lost off ball, and doesn’t do great zoning up. More minutes will help that, but unfortunately this needs to be taught in practice because we’re the #1 team chasing a BE title. If we run guys off the court like we did to Xavier, it’ll open up more development minutes for Solo. 2 of the next 3 are GTown and DePaul, hope that happens there

I have a feeling he’s going to explode next season when a lot of our backcourt minutes free up.

 

[rich1122]

Can only put 5 guys out there. He and Stewart just need to try and get better every day. It’ll come.

 

[huskiemaniac]

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.

Alex also came a year early, if I’m remembering correctly …lots of time for him to learn before he ever played in a game.

 

[jibsey]

Ball and Stewart are both very talented but we have too much experienced talent out there for them to get much more floor time. On another team in a different situation they could both be making headlines if given the chance. Next year will be great for them both.

 

[XLCenterFan]

He is an elite athlete. Has good instincts. If he does not get sufficient minutes let's hope he doesn't
terrorize the BE on another team because many teams would covet him. Teams like just about all of them including Rickey boy who just got his a__ kicked in his home town.

No way the kid leaves. Newton gone. Castle gone. Spencer gone. Ball and Nowell will be getting minutes.

 

[dennismenace]

Not sure if this is a hot take but I think Solo doesn’t get minutes is because of his defense, not his offense. Also obviously that we just have 7 guys ahead of him who are no brainer high-minute guys

He doesn’t turn the ball over. He hustles for offensive rebounds or at least keeps balls alive at the rim. I just checked his 3P numbers, he’s 32% on the year but that is dragged down from early season. Since December, he’s 13-30 (43%) with lights out performances against Xavier and UNC

But on defense he gets blown by often, gets lost off ball, and doesn’t do great zoning up. More minutes will help that, but unfortunately this needs to be taught in practice because we’re the #1 team chasing a BE title. If we run guys off the court like we did to Xavier, it’ll open up more development minutes for Solo. 2 of the next 3 are GTown and DePaul, hope that happens there

I have a feeling he’s going to explode next season when a lot of our backcourt minutes free up.

Thanks for clarifying about his defense. He has the potential to do a lot better than that. I hope he takes a page from Castle's example which seems to be staying calm and thinking out there. I hope he also gets a head start over the summer to work on everything he needs to and hope you are right about next season. He's got great athleticism and seems to have a good attitude. It's a big jump to play at a top D1 program.

 

[Palatine]

Thanks for clarifying about his defense. He has the potential to do a lot better than that. I hope he takes a page from Castle's example which seems to be staying calm and thinking out there. I hope he also gets a head start over the summer to work on everything he needs to and hope you are right about next season. He's got great athleticism and seems to have a good attitude. It's a big jump to play at a top D1 program.

Early in the season Hurley said that Ball rarely made mistakes on defense and this allowed him (Hurley) to keep Ball on the floor. Lately though his flaws on defense have been pretty visible especially the blow bys. It is pretty common for young players to play poor defense when their offense is struggling.

Hopefully Ball can regroup a little. He hit a nice little put back jumper against St Johns. Perhaps that is a first step he can build on. He is highly talented and has physical gifts. As Hurley said when Karaban went through his slump, he grabbed a rebound, cut hard and made a lay up, he didn't let one part of his game drag down the other parts.

 

[inWV]

Thanks for clarifying about his defense. He has the potential to do a lot better than that. I hope he takes a page from Castle's example which seems to be staying calm and thinking out there. I hope he also gets a head start over the summer to work on everything he needs to and hope you are right about next season. He's got great athleticism and seems to have a good attitude. It's a big jump to play at a top D1 program.

Diarra is a pest defensively and is preferred to be on the court against some lineups in conference play. Offensively he takes what is given him and is in the flow of the offense. Ball is competing for minutes with Diarra and is on the short end, just as Diarra was last year with Calcaterra and Allyne.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Early in the season Hurley said that Ball rarely made mistakes on defense and this allowed him (Hurley) to keep Ball on the floor. Lately though his flaws on defense have been pretty visible especially the blow bys. It is pretty common for young players to play poor defense when their offense is struggling.

Hopefully Ball can regroup a little. He hit a nice little put back jumper against St Johns. Perhaps that is a first step he can build on. He is highly talented and has physical gifts. As Hurley said when Karaban went through his slump, he grabbed a rebound, cut hard and made a lay up, he didn't let one part of his game drag down the other parts.

Karaban is an unfair comp to make. Hurley is currently invested in him enough to work with him to figure it out.

We aren’t that invested in Solo at the moment. If something isn’t working we just won’t play him because we have other guys who rightfully deserve more minutes who are performing like Diarra. He doesn’t really have a leash to figure things out the same way. And it’s not a need when we are winning like we do.

 

[inWV]

Karaban is an unfair comp to make. Hurley is currently invested in him enough to work with him to figure it out.

We aren’t that invested in Solo at the moment. If something isn’t working we just won’t play him because we have other guys who rightfully deserve more minutes who are performing like Diarra. He doesn’t really have a leash to figure things out the same way. And it’s not a need when we are winning like we do.

Karaban got abused by more experienced BE 4's early in the conference season last year, but pretty much had it figured out later on. Ball will play more or less in the rest of the conference games, depending on matchups.

 

[aceboon]

Karaban is an unfair comp to make. Hurley is currently invested in him enough to work with him to figure it out.

We aren’t that invested in Solo at the moment. If something isn’t working we just won’t play him because we have other guys who rightfully deserve more minutes who are performing like Diarra. He doesn’t really have a leash to figure things out the same way. And it’s not a need when we are winning like we do.

You've reached a revelation so hopefully this is the end of it

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

You've reached a revelation so hopefully this is the end of it

What do you mean? My opinion hasn’t changed. Things are nuanced.

 

[Palatine]

Karaban is an unfair comp to make. Hurley is currently invested in him enough to work with him to figure it out.

We aren’t that invested in Solo at the moment. If something isn’t working we just won’t play him because we have other guys who rightfully deserve more minutes who are performing like Diarra. He doesn’t really have a leash to figure things out the same way. And it’s not a need when we are winning like we do.

I an NOT comparing him to Karaban. They are completely different players. I am using Karaban as an example. How AK handled a certain situation. It could apply to Clingan although they are completely different players. If one part of your game isn't working, don't let it affect other parts of your game. Heck, it could apply in a corporate environment.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

Karaban got abused by more experienced BE 4's early in the conference season last year, but pretty much had it figured out later on. Ball will play more or less in the rest of the conference games, depending on matchups.

Right. He struggled early but because we gave him big minutes (because we had no other choice) he eventually figured it out and was much better for it. Ball doesn’t have that opportunity here because of the other options we have.

I an NOT comparing him to Karaban. They are completely different players. I am using Karaban as an example. How AK handled a certain situation. It could apply to Clingan although they are completely different players. If one part of your game isn't working, don't let it affect other parts of your game. Heck, it could apply in a corporate environment.

Oh yeah sorry didn’t mean you were comparing them as players. Just meant the opportunity and situations they are in are different for Ball to do what Karaban did.