Chief’s Briefs - St John Edition | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Chief’s Briefs - St John Edition

Chief00 said:
Two huge statistics from last night:
Point in the Paint: 42 UConn to 12 SJU
Fast Break Points: 14 UConn to 0 SJU
We needed to improve in both areas and at least for last night we did.
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And this stat of points in the paint should directly correlate to free throws, which didn’t happen last night. Every other game people on here say we don’t take many free throws because we take too many 3’s. We literally pounded the paint all game long and forced St. John’s into difficult jump shots and still had a foul and free throw discrepancy against us. St. John’s didn’t have a foul called on them for the first 8 minutes of the 2nd half. Imagine one of the most physical teams in all of college bball going 8 mins without a foul…that’s crazy
 
They did a great job with the entry passes to Reed and he was finishing. I'm all for letting them play physical. The infuriating part is when they call ticky-tack fouls on Reed, especially when there is barely any contact. Reed needs to be on the court. I honestly don't know how a center is supposed to play when the refs are so inconsistent with the calls.
 
Great post. The refs definitely missed a few calls but they did let the boys play for the most part. Not of lot of nickel and dimers.

Mullins draft status reminds me alot of Liam last year. It was clear he was not physically ready for the NBA but the draft mocks had him in the first round and it's hard to pass up on that money and opportunity.

But we are seeing that Liam's career is not off to a great start in the NBA (injuries not withstanding) and would of greatly benefited staying at Uconn one more year.

I understand Hurley's philosophy of pushing guys out if they are considered 1st round locks but Mullins isn't NBA ready, and would be considered a potential All American if he stays.
 
Chief00 said:
The students showed up and were great considering many are better students than we probably were - maybe more nerdy than experienced playing /knowing basketball?
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Speak for yourself. I was plenty nerdy back in the day but always brought the energy to games. Face painting, road trips to Syracuse and Georgetown. Lost my voice after every game. Maybe a bit hyperbolic but point is nerds show up too!
 
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Mets1432 said:
Great post. The refs definitely missed a few calls but they did let the boys play for the most part. Not of lot of nickel and dimers.

Mullins draft status reminds me alot of Liam last year. It was clear he was not physically ready for the NBA but the draft mocks had him in the first round and it's hard to pass up on that money and opportunity.

But we are seeing that Liam's career is not off to a great start in the NBA (injuries not withstanding) and would of greatly benefited staying at Uconn one more year.

I understand Hurley's philosophy of pushing guys out if they are considered 1st round locks but Mullins isn't NBA ready, and would be considered a potential All American if he stays.
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Mullins situation is compounded by the fact this year's draft is historically good. Combine that with NIL, and the opportunity to develop physically for a year and to take it into a weak draft where he can be a lock for a top 10 pick. He'll also have the luxury of playing a second year with an experienced PG. It's a tough choice - I still think if you're a lock for top 20, you go. If he bleeds into the mid 20's or is skirting with the back end of the 20's, you think hard about coming back. I'm sure going through the process will give him plenty of clarity.
 
Chief00 said:
I said the same thing about a guy that was on the team last season. Was I wrong? Both Clingan and Castle, I thought it was in their interest to leave.
Mullins will have a great career regardless, but would like to see him get stronger so he can fully show off his gifted and hard earned skills.
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Yes, Liam was drafted in the 1st round and signed a guaranteed 4 yr $14mill contract. If Liam came back then Mullins wouldn’t be on the team. and re Mullins, nba teams have much better strength and conditioning programs
 
bendm said:
Yes, Liam was drafted in the 1st round and signed a guaranteed 4 yr $14mill contract. If Liam came back then Mullins wouldn’t be on the team. and re Mullins, nba teams have much better strength and conditioning programs
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This pretty much rules Mullins out for returning. 14 million? There’s no injury insurance policy, NIL or package that could make up for this?
 
jibsey said:
This pretty much rules Mullins out for returning. 14 million? There’s no injury insurance policy, NIL or package that could make up for this?
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Only 5.6mm is guaranteed. Team options year 3 & 4. That's for the 29th pick.

Comparitively, if you go 7th as an example, you get 13mm guarranteed and a total of 28mm in option years.

Big difference in those 20 picks.
 
Dibbie said:
I see only 3 turnovers in the box score. Maybe they took the one away where we let the clock expire at the end.
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Which boxscore was that from? The ESPN one and the one from UConn both have 5 turnovers in the total but only credit 3 turnovers to players. 1 for Demary and 2 for Reed. Are there team turnovers like team rebounds? Maybe those last 2 aren't credited to a player?

www.espn.com

UConn 72-40 St. John's (Feb 25, 2026) Box Score - ESPN

Box score for the UConn Huskies vs. St. John's Red Storm NCAAM game from February 25, 2026 on ESPN. Includes all points, rebounds and steals stats.
www.espn.com www.espn.com

uconnhuskies.com

University of Connecticut Athletics

University of Connecticut Athletics
uconnhuskies.com uconnhuskies.com
 
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Dibbie said:
I see only 3 turnovers in the box score. Maybe they took the one away where we let the clock expire at the end.

I like your mention of Mullins returning as I see it as a possibility. This class is so loaded, I think he would benefit greatly by staying another year, getting stronger and most likely being a higher draft pick in 2027. Doesn’t hurt that he will get paid for staying, unlike in the past.
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The individual box score won’t include 2 team turnovers for shot clock violations (one deliberate one, one when Mali had his shot blocked in the first).
 
Chief00 said:
The students showed up and were great considering many are better students than we probably were - maybe more nerdy than experienced playing /knowing basketball?
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Agree with you on this , Chief. When I visited a few months ago(after many decades), I was impressed talking to some of the students, including ones now living in my old dorm. They seemed to follow the team and were excited by its accomplishments. The emotion was there, maybe not the analytics.
 
RuffRuff said:
Only 5.6mm is guaranteed. Team options year 3 & 4. That's for the 29th pick.

Comparitively, if you go 7th as an example, you get 13mm guarranteed and a total of 28mm in option years.

Big difference in those 20 picks.
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One of the things that has changed though is the internet and YouTube. It's amazing that it has already been 13 years, but at least where I am in Virginia the high school kids and junior high kids all know the name Kevin Ware and have seen the video. They know how quickly fortunes can change and seeing 6 inches of tibia sticking out is a hard visual to erase. There has been gruesome injuries since, and they have left a mark on the psyche of many, too.
 
dogpause said:
Reed wasn't just a beast; he was also a butterfly. His quickness and scoring ability around the rim are incredible.
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Like sort of a mix of Bill Russell and Walton/Clingan, for one game anyway, and maybe more to come. That quickness I had not seen before.
 
Improviser said:
Like sort of a mix of Bill Russell and Walton/Clingan, for one game anyway, and maybe more to come. That quickness I had not seen before.
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I saw it last August in the scrimmage at Werth.
 
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socalhusky said:
I only read Chief to see how long it takes him to complain about the refs and blame it on the commissioner. This one takes the cake. Now on ignore. Don’t need any more conspiracy mongers in my life. Geez.
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You realize the opening post in this thread had 12 paragraphs and only 1 or 8.5% had to do with officiating. Since foul shots was in stark contrast to almost every other category which UConn dominated - it certainly was worth a mention. In fact, O’Connell was Pitino’s MVP for the game by a long margin.
 
Chief00 said:
Reed was a Beast and totally dominated on both ends of the court with 20 points, 11 rebounds, and 6 blocks. When Tarris plays like this, we are very difficult to beat. He was a man amongst boys and exposed SJU’s weakness in the paint. His domination was both in quality of play and Will. He kept his intensity and logged 30 minutes.

Our defense was exceptional, holding St John’s 2 for 28 on FG’s the second half. Their top scorer had just 10 points.

How do we totally dominate except for one category fouls/FTA’s? We had 18 fouls to their 11 and 11 foul shots to St John’s 18, despite a 32 point win. O’Connell’s crew was definitely SJU MVP this game. The officiating was so embarassing that they were shamed into having to overrule 3 calls upon review. In fact, Hurley rubbed their nose in it when he made a successful appeal when we had a huge lead late. Why is their initial instinct always to call anything even remotely close against us? Including not calling an obvious flagrant foul. They and the Big East office need to do some self inspection.

We outshot St John’s FG wise 47% to 20%, thanks to layups and points in the paint, but the 3pt % was horrible for both teams (UConn 28% to SJU 25%).

I loved our assist to turnover ratio 20 to 5 (or 4 to 1 ratio). Hurley has Reed playing the hedge the way Donovan did, playing underneath it and staying more with the Big. That puts him in better position to block shots and rebound.

While our bench only delivered 11 points, they gave us exactly what we needed tonight with defense, 9 rebounds and zero turnovers. I thought Ross gave us a spark off the bench, despite a quiet 4 points. His defense and 4 rebounds gave us energy and toughness. Smith had 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals.
Reibe’s main contribution tonight was giving us 5 fouls in the trenches that Reed did not pick up. Obviously, he needs to get stronger to be more effective in these rough games. Anyone know why Stewart did not play after doing well last game?

Demary only had 7 points but played tough with 8 rebounds, 5 assists and only 1 turnover. Smith had 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals.

While Mullins needs to get stronger, but in addition to an elite skillset (shots just touching bottom of net etc), he also is an elite athlete and his dunk today showed it. His 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks and 1 steal to go along with 9 points, exhibited that athleticism too. We need to get a Reed like big body and have Mullins return to be a star next season along with Ball/Demary. Adding Alex’s shots to his plate next season would give him plenty of opportunity as would a summer in the weight room. He would be a top 5 pick.

Karaban and Ball gave us a combined 50% shooting (10-20) for 25 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists. They displayed good leadership on the court and Alex was even told by the ref to tone down his post play celebrating. They played our most minutes (Karaban 35, Ball 32) and literarily would not let our team take the foot off the gas, a weakness in many of our Big East games.

Proud of our guys on the team, the coaches not being stubborn and making adjustments and the Hartford fans. It was a great atmosphere and the team and fans were on the same page. The students showed up and were great considering many are better students than we probably were - maybe more nerdy than experienced playing /knowing basketball?

Overall, tonight ended any conversation, about the location of our best home court advantage and after over 3 years of wins in Hartford the data backs that up. I love Gampel and have seats there but this was big time tonight. Thank you students, who put their books down and came to Hartford to learn about and participate in an intense home court advantage.
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Chief I wonder what feedback Mullins would need to get to return (?).. .Currently i see him mocked all over the place, from 11th to 18th... which as you know is a world of difference as far as money... This was both Tarris & Alex's best games this year IMO.. Such a refreshing performance & effort.. we are rolling.
 
evmore said:
Chief I wonder what feedback Mullins would need to get to return (?).. .Currently i see him mocked all over the place, from 11th to 18th... which as you know is a world of difference as far as money... This was both Tarris & Alex's best games this year IMO.. Such a refreshing performance & effort.. we are rolling.
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I feel like after that one, it's safe to say that we'll probably go only as far as Tarris takes us. His ability is a true difference maker, especially in a year like this where the top of the food chain is dominated by amazing front courts (Duke, UM, AZ, Florida, Illinois).
 
evmore said:
Chief I wonder what feedback Mullins would need to get to return (?).. .Currently i see him mocked all over the place, from 11th to 18th... which as you know is a world of difference as far as money... This was both Tarris & Alex's best games this year IMO.. Such a refreshing performance & effort.. we are rolling.
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Braylon’s game is going to get stronger as we progress through the tournaments. The only reason he stays, is if he were to regress and have two bad tournaments. Don’t think anyone rooting for that! Enjoy your Braylon time, he’s a competitor.
 
Improviser said:
Like sort of a mix of Bill Russell and Walton/Clingan, for one game anyway, and maybe more to come. That quickness I had not seen before.
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I think Reed is finally healthy and in playing shape He has been moving much better the last couple games.
 
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AllHusky said:
Braylon’s game is going to get stronger as we progress through the tournaments. The only reason he stays, is if he were to regress and have two bad tournaments. Don’t think anyone rooting for that! Enjoy your Braylon time, he’s a competitor.
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Maybe Alex can sit with him, and have a little talk?
 
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