Chief’s Briefs - Texas Edition

[Chief00]

Diarra will get time if he continues his improved foul shooting. I thought the second team applied better defensive pressure and we got out to slow start after halftime but again Diarra and Samson Johnson gave us energy and then Karaban hit big shots ending with 20 points.

Johnson gave us points (15), rebounds (7) and played good defense and made great dunks. Ball also had a solid game and adds to our bench strength and likely full time starter next year.

We shot 46% FG, and 89% FT, which was enough to keep Texas second half come back attempts from overcoming us. But, a lack of consistent 3’s shooting late hurt us.

Spencer and Karaban shooting is tough to overcome but give Texas credit, they did not quit, played good defense, rebounded and made their shots too. Hunter and Mitchell played hard and well in the second half.

Newton’s shot was off tonight after two good shooting games. Karaban hit some huge shots late to win the game and a double figure win against a tough Texas team that had injuries.

Karaban is probably the MVP tonight followed by Spencer and Johnson. Donovan is still trying to fully recover from his foot situation and being out. However, he shot 75% (3 for 4) which means he needed more shot attempts.

We out rebounded Texas by 11 and had twice as many blocks. Given our elite OOC schedule and onjuries being 2-0 against Indiana and Texas is a very good sign.

 

[GHSWolverines]

Great start indeed. To me Samson was the MVP. Yes Karaban made some clutch shots but how would have our interior been without Samson?

 

[HuskyHawk]

Main takeaway from these games is we’ve got a team that finds a way to win. Different guys stepping up when needed. There’s no quit in these Huskies.

 

[GHSWolverines]

Main takeaway from these games is we’ve got a team that finds a way to win. Different guys stepping up when needed. There’s no quit in these Huskies.

It's the Hurley mentallity. Always bring out the dawg

 

[caw]

Great start indeed. To me Samson was the MVP. Yes Karaban made some clutch shots but how would have our interior been without Samson?

I'll give it to Samson for the storyline. Kid scored more tonight than he did all last year. Almost as many rebounds also. That injury really slowed his progression.

 

[Dove]

Samson tonight, he had the glow:

 

[WeAreUCONN]

Diarra gets an A+ tonight. Samson a solid A. Clingan needs to be better. Newton with an off night but still contributed heavily. Great win and showed championship toughness down the stretch.

 

[jibsey]

We have a lot of talent and on different nights it can be different guys. Newton last game, tonight others. Good problem to have.

 

[Chief00]

I'll give it to Samson for the storyline. Kid scored more tonight than he did all last year. Almost as many rebounds also. That injury really slowed his progression.

Both Donovan and Karaban at the Red Fox events mentioned Samson was outstanding at practice.

 

[Chief00]

Diarra gets an A+ tonight. Samson a solid A. Clingan needs to be better. Newton with an off night but still contributed heavily. Great win and showed championship toughness down the stretch.

We need to be patient with Donovan foot recovery. Take the long view.

 

[Dave]

Samson tonight, he had the glow:

Sho nuff!

 

[Jaker]

Newton was in cruise control.

 

[Chief00]

Great start indeed. To me Samson was the MVP. Yes Karaban made some clutch shots but how would have our interior been without Samson?

Good point about the interior without Samson. If we have a weakness it is not having a muscle guy up front. To some extent that’s mitigated with Clingan and Karaban getting stronger.

 

[HuskyBoi]

19-0 since last season in the non conference slate
And honestly, the past couple days at the Garden it did not feel like we were in any way worried about the end result. That's how much we trust Dan and staff these days to stamp victories

 

[Spaceman213J]

They shot 29% from 3.
Clingan and Newton did not have great nights.

They still win by double digits.

I said it last year that Karaban has a little Larry Bird in him. In the final few minutes, while others start to speed up, he seems to slow down and knows exactly what he wants to do and how much time there is on the clock. You can tell he wants the ball himself and he wants to rip the other team's heart out. If it came down to one shot to win a game, as rich as UConn's history is, I'm not sure there is a player I'd want ahead of him to take that one shot for the championship. Ray, RIP and Tate have hit big shots, historic shots, but Karaban seems to have that knack. Granted it hasn't been in a BE championship or needed in tournament play, but he seems very comfortable in the moment at the close of a game or on a big possession.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Good point about the interior without Samson. If we have a weakness it is not having a muscle guy up front. To some extent that’s mitigated with Clingan and Karaban getting stronger.

Alex still needs to get stronger. He’s not getting bullied like early last year, but physical guys do give him problems on defense. I don’t know enough about Abraham, but I prefer one bigger 4 on the roster, 6’8-9” and 225 or so. Even if a 3-4 year bench guy, it’s helpful for some of these matchups.

After tonight, Johnson may get more time at the 4 with Clingan. Clingan‘s passing could make that tough to defend

 

[Dove]

Sho nuff!

Who's the Master?!?

 

[Dove]

They shot 29% from 3.
Clingan and Newton did not have great nights.

They still win by double digits.

I said it last year that Karaban has a little Larry Bird in him. In the final few minutes, while others start to speed up, he seems to slow down and knows exactly what he wants to do and how much time there is on the clock. You can tell he wants the ball himself and he wants to rip the other team's heart out. If it came down to one shot to win a game, as rich as UConn's history is, I'm not sure there is a player I'd want ahead of him to take that one shot for the championship. Ray, RIP and Tate have hit big shots, historic shots, but Karaban seems to have that knack. Granted it hasn't been in a BE championship or needed in tournament play, but he seems very comfortable in the moment at the close of a game or on a big possession.

I thought Newton was great. I was very calm when he had the ball.

 

[WeAreUCONN]

We need to be patient with Donovan foot recovery. Take the long view.

I agree and luckily we have Sampson to contribute in the meantime.

 

[TheChamps990411]

Main takeaway from these games is we’ve got a team that finds a way to win. Different guys stepping up when needed. There’s no quit in these Huskies.

Its weird because this makes sense but sounds incorrect at the same time. Its like saying this team "finds a way to win" implies they are winning games they should lose but manage to pull off the win. That is not at all what is happening. We have won all our games by double digits and lets be honest Texas was playing catch up all game long and while they cut it to 5 late what happened? Well what happened in the final 4 last year and that is they go on a late run and put teams a way. Its just that Texas manage to get close with 3 minutes instead of the game being over at the 5 minute mark.
This team isnt finding ways to win they have beaten their last 11 opponents going back to last years tournament by double digits! We are truly spoiled as Uconn fans.

 

[uconnfan68]

Its weird because this makes sense but sounds incorrect at the same time. Its like saying this team "finds a way to win" implies they are winning games they should lose but manage to pull off the win. That is not at all what is happening. We have won all our games by double digits and lets be honest Texas was playing catch up all game long and while they cut it to 5 late what happened? Well what happened in the final 4 last year and that is they go on a late run and put teams a way. Its just that Texas manage to get close with 3 minutes instead of the game being over at the 5 minute mark.
This team isnt finding ways to win they have beaten their last 11 opponents going back to last years tournament by double digits! We are truly spoiled as Uconn fans.

And arrogant.

 

[TheChamps990411]

We need to be patient with Donovan foot recovery. Take the long view.

I agree and luckily we have Sampson to contribute in the meantime.

A blessing in disguise. I think DC just needs to work his way back and not feel rushed or get frustrated. He missed a month. All this does is give SJ a ton of experience before Big East play starts and he will be ready to play at that level. ONce DC gets back to the level we expect him to be we will have yet another insane 1, 2 punch at the 5 this season. This may work out even worse for opposing teams because SJ comes off the bench with lots of energy and will run up and down the court wearing down opposing bigs who`ll have no real rest. Can you imagine being the opposing C facing DC/SJ every minute youre in the game? Yikes!

 

[Chief00]

Alex still needs to get stronger. He’s not getting bullied like early last year, but physical guys do give him problems on defense. I don’t know enough about Abraham, but I prefer one bigger 4 on the roster, 6’8-9” and 225 or so. Even if a 3-4 year bench guy, it’s helpful for some of these matchups.

After tonight, Johnson may get more time at the 4 with Clingan. Clingan‘s passing could make that tough to defend

Agree, I like to have that 6-9 235 muscle guy when the game gets physical.

 

[Chief00]

And to think the Big East picks us to finish 3rd in the conference. Imagine how stacked the Big East officiating will have to be for that to happen?

 

[Hankster]

Diarra will get time if he continues his improved foul shooting. I thought the second team applied better defensive pressure and we got out to slow start after halftime but again Diarra and Samson Johnson gave us energy and then Karaban hit big shots ending with 20 points.

Johnson gave us points (15), rebounds (7) and played good defense and made great dunks. Ball also had a solid game and adds to our bench strength and likely full time starter next year.

We shot 46% FG, and 89% FT, which was enough to keep Texas second half come back attempts from overcoming us. But, a lack of consistent 3’s shooting late hurt us.

Spencer and Karaban shooting is tough to overcome but give Texas credit, they did not quit, played good defense, rebounded and made their shots too. Hunter and Mitchell played hard and well in the second half.

Newton’s shot was off tonight after two good shooting games. Karaban hit some huge shots late to win the game and a double figure win against a tough Texas team that had injuries.

Karaban is probably the MVP tonight followed by Spencer and Johnson. Donovan is still trying to fully recover from his foot situation and being out. However, he shot 75% (3 for 4) which means he needed more shot attempts.

We out rebounded Texas by 11 and had twice as many blocks. Given our elite OOC schedule and onjuries being 2-0 against Indiana and Texas is a very good sign.

Karaban must practice buzzer beaters. It's a continuing habit. Spencer is Joey California Part2. I was stunned the first half on Samson's play.
This team seems to be continuing from last year. It is a breath of fresh air to witness the BBIQ of this team.